Great bands no-one talks about (Not a List Thread)

[alan nagsworth]

What've you started, gilbertharding?

A thread, by the looks of it.

fake edit new page ahhh

[hermitical]

King Of The Slums - saw THIS on SnubTV and immediately went out and bought Barbarous English Fayre, went and and saw them three or four times when they were in London (more than any other band I've seen). Seem to recall that some student even wrote a dissertation on Keigher's lyrics. Unfortunately they were peaking just at the moment when indie went baggy and they seemed to lose impetus not long after.

A lot of the lyrics are all the more prescient in these times...

Up The Empire/Balls To The Bulldog Breed

Saw them a few times in Derby as well - they were fierce, loved them. They're playing some dates this year after a couple of recent releases (well, one release and one on its way I think)

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Toasted Heretic- had a go at reviving the early Prefab Sprout sound , with added quirkiness, a few
years after the fact, with very, very limited success.

Molly Half Head - Salford band, bit more of a rocking less pseudy version of Magazine.

Rote Kapelle- 80s era In Tape label signed spindly indie types. Most of the personnel were also involved in about four other bands. Lovely stuff.

The Mothers- had a nice, Rocked in a Neil Young sort of way song called Sponge. Not heard anything else about them whatsoever.

The Bitter Springs- Go Betweens influenced band from North London or somewhere. Their debut single from 1996, The ( Something ) Brothers ( can't be fucked to Google, soz ), remains a most gorgeous tune.

Last Party - In my lovely mature Indie Man mind, this band is bracketed with the above mentioned ' Springs, except a bit rockier. One if their songs was titled " Bruce Lee Was So Fit That He Killed Himself", or something. And why not ?

Quickspace Silversport - Did a nice little line in Camden based Krautrock. Joe Dilworth used to drum for them. One of CABs contributors has their debut album sleeve as their avatar.

Also heartily endorse the already mentioned New FADs ( used to wear me " Music Is Shit " t- shirt with no small degree of pride ) and Th' Faith Healers ( " Reptile Smile" remains a classic tune, and to this day, I regret missing out on seeing them on their very early Glastonbury set,  in 1992 ).

[thraxx]

Toasted Heretic- had a go at reviving the early Prefab Sprout sound , with added quirkiness, a few
years after the fact, with very, very limited success.

Molly Half Head - Salford band, bit more of a rocking less pseudy version of Magazine.

Rote Kapelle- 80s era In Tape label signed spindly indie types. Most if the personnel were also involved in about four other bands. Lovely stuff.

The Mothers- had a nice, Rocked in a Neil Young sort of way song called Sponge. Not heard anything else about them whatsoever.

The Bitter Springs- Go Betweens influenced band from North London or somewhere. Their debut single from 1996, The ( Something ) Brothers ( can't be fucked to Google, soz ), remains a most gorgeous tune.

Last Party - In my lovely mature Indie Man mind, this band is bracketed with the above mentioned ' Springs, except a bit rockier. One if their songs was titled " Bruce Lee Was Do Fit That He Killed Himself", or something. And why not ?

Quickspace Silversport - Did a nice little line in Camden based Krautrock. Joe Dilworth used to drum for them. One of CABs contributors has their debut album sleeve as their avatar.

Also heartily endorse the already mentioned New FADs ( used to wear me " Music Is Shit " t- shirt with no small degree of pride ) and Th' Faith Healers ( " Reptile Smile" remains a classic tune, and to this day, I regret missing out on seeing them on their very early Glastonbury set,  in 1992 ).

.

Do you mean Quickspace Supersport? Then shortened to Quickspace? They were brilliant. Once saw then supporting Tindersticks and they had gymnasts with neon ribbons dancing round the stage. Gutted when they split up - my 12 inch of Precious Mountain is one of my dearest records. And their drummer was the spitting image of Rod Hull.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

I did mean Quickspace Supersport, cheers. Envy you seeing them live. Joe Dilworth looks like Rod Hull ( Aerosmith consider rewrite )?

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Do Shoegaze stragglers Moose count in this thread ? Or, indeed, perpetual Camden rockers Gallon Drunk ? One of my more recent claims to fame is the current guitarist for Gallon Drunk telling me in no uncertain terms to fuck off, backstage at a Lydia Lunch gig, after I' d pointed out his resemblance to Julian Assange.

[NoSleep]

Quickspace were regularly played on XFM before it was assimilated into the Capital Radio Group and started to play wall to wall Blurasis.

Their Precious Mountain is a classic (and a tune I've played often on CaB Radio and always gets positive comments).

I've grabbed a live recording of the band on dimeadozen.org of them playing at the Garage in Highbury in '97.

[thraxx]

Quickspace were regularly played on XFM before it was assimilated into the Capital Radio Group and started to play wall to wall Blurasis.

Their Precious Mountain is a classic (and a tune I've played often on CaB Radio and always gets positive comments).

I've grabbed a live recording of the band on dimeadozen.org of them playing at the Garage in Highbury in '97.

I was at that gig! The first time I heard Precious Mountain was listening to XFM on my Walkman in bed one night. It came on and I knew immediately that it was Quickspace. Rushed out the next day and bought the 12" in that little record shop tucked away in on of the arcades in St Albans. I seem to remember the guitarist had this weird purple telecaster that he had cut big chunks off and was taped to him, and that the bassist always looked the most bored of bored bassists ever.

I had the first record, the die cut sleeve one on vinyl, but some cunt nicked it off me. I've also got Superplus on 12" somewhere which is another top tune. I'm going to listen to them now.

Why did they split and what came next for them?

[NoSleep]

Their wiki says the main man had been in the band mentioned earlier in this thread Th'Faith Healers and they morphed back into that, mid 2000's.

[jobotic]

I have all the Quickspace records I could get hold of and they were fantastic live. Saw Th Faith Healers once and I nearly cried it was so exhilarating.

I had a Faith Healers t-shirt that was my ex's. Lost it.

Quickspace's full album cover of Rumours undervthe name Dougal Reed is brilliant.

[non capisco]

Agreed, Precious Mountain by Quickspace is an absolutely towering tune and anyone who hasn't heard it should listen to it RIGHT NOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZfnQ8FtUkY

I have a fond memory of me and a housemate playing the 12" of that over and over and over again getting slowly rat arsed on vodka, jaws on the floor at how colossal it is. It would end and one of us would go "again?" like a dipso Tellytubby. Back on it goes, let's hear that mouth organ and bicycle bell again. Twelve minutes of bliss awaits.

[jobotic]

I heard Goodbye Precious Mountain first and it always feels like the 'proper' one.

[the ouch cube]

God Machine

One of the best guitar groups of the 1990s. First album is probably better but the second is my favourite, and may be a top 10 alltimer for me. Makes even 'The Holy Bible' and 'Pornography' sound a bit frivolous.

You can hear traces of their sound in Mogwai and alt-metal like Tool, there's a Prong track called "Path Of Least Resistance" which sounds uncannily like them, but they are never, ever namechecked.

[MiddleRabbit]

The Stairs are a bit triggering for me though, since my girlfriend at the time (the good-at-art Dynamite Sack Artist of legend - who helpfully pointed out the misogyny in some Rolling Stones lyrics) didn't like them.

The Rolling Stones' finger pointing songs were mysogynistic as hell.  Properly nasty.  I wrote a blog piece about it: https://middlerabbiting.com/2018/10/02/finger-pointing-songs-part-3-the-rolling-stones-or-wife-beating-man/

The Stairs, despite practically covering The Last Time on Weed Bus, weren't though.

[MiddleRabbit]

Do Shoegaze stragglers Moose count in this thread ? Or, indeed, perpetual Camden rockers Gallon Drunk ? One of my more recent claims to fame is the current guitarist for Gallon Drunk telling me in no uncertain terms to fuck off, backstage at a Lydia Lunch gig, after I' d pointed out his resemblance to Julian Assange.

The first Moose album, XYZ, was a big favourite of mine.  There was a bonus 7" with the vinyl that had them duetting with someone or other on Gordon Lightfoot's 'Early Morning Rain' and a woozy version of 'The Moon Is Blue' which were both great.  The album's a strange one in that I enjoy it as a whole but individually the songs don't really seem to work.  Second album was more of the same but only half as good.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

The Flaming Stars: Sort of like a more melancholy Gallon Drunk. The Young Diana Dors on their record sleeves. Top tunes like " Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" undt " The Face On The Bar Room Floor". ( " It Takes one hand to hold the bottle, the other to pour" ).

[NoSleep]

I have a 7" single from 1980 by a band called The Dreamboys, which features a song called Bela Lugosi's Birthday that I heard on John Peel at the time and went and bought the record. Not keen on the other tunes but still love the opener:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P7e3PMear0

Vocalist, Peter Capaldi, went on to become an actor, I've heard.

[NoSleep]

Another record I own is a 7" EP by a NY group call Harry Toledo & The Rockets, featuring 4 tracks. it is produced by John Cale and released on his label, Spy Records:

Who Is That Saving Me?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0QyxHif7Fg
Busted Chevrolet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmzXV1p2ZZE
John Glenn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJhnE8PS2Y0
Yo-Ho!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq_5pJGO-ms

And then just one other track on the Live At Max's Kansas City compilation called Knots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT6bMcq_EXs

I'm not sure what happened to the band or Harry after that. If you search ofr Harry Toledo, there's another artist using that name doing latin-based music and definitely not our man above.

That Max's Kansas City album isn't a live album by the way and has more than its fair share sub-standard curios of the time, but it also has an alternative version of Rocket USA by Suicide which I love, as well as being the record that allowed me to hear Pere Ubu's amazing Final Solution for the first time. So... three good tracks.

[NoSleep]

Unrest, Work & Play made a couple of EPs and an LP in the early 80's. They sound to me like This Heat fanboys, but I was hankering for more flavour like that at the time.

http://mendedrecords.blogspot.com/2006/06/unrest-work-play-andy-chris.html

Link to blog (click the word "zombie") to download their first EP and go straight to the track Zombie Culture which would have been the one I would have linked to on YouTube if had been able to find it.

There's also Tim Hodgkinson's band from the same time, The Work, whose first 7" (I Hate America) is still a firm favourite (channeling some heavy Beefheart vibes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuGSjyke5_o

[alan nagsworth]

An excellent current band no one talks about: The Cribs

Three brothers who seem to exist inside each other's heads, artistically. Criminally underrated, top tier indie stuff. Not only did they outshine their peers with the wondrously spiky and ear-wormy "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" in 2007 (their breakthrough album that got a fair bit of attention) but they'd released two cracking albums before that, and they've long since outdone any other band of that era with their work since. Even bands like Franz Ferdinand, who I understand are modestly respected around these parts, could never hold a candle to The Cribs.

While The Kooks and Kaiser Chiefs release one turgid piss album after another and clamber over one another for glory gigs trotting out the same tired garbage, The Cribs have released four fucking solid albums, and switching up their style slightly for each one. The standouts are the frankly excellent "Ignore The Ignorant", co-written and performed by Johnny Marr, and 2017's belting "24-7 Rock Star Shit", raw, grungy and produced by Steve Albini.

And yet there they sit, seven albums into a highly consistent career, almost entirely overlooked by the media. I find it utterly bizarre.

[NoSleep]

Another band I loved from the early 80's is the first incarnation of Clock DVA after they were collectively dumped (or was it the other way round?) by vocalist Adi Newton: The Box: There's a couple of 12" EPs and a couple albums around by them, none of which have seen CD reissues as far as I know.

No Time For Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nASAnFzeCrs

[Jockice]

Another band I loved from the early 80's is the first incarnation of Clock DVA after they were collectively dumped (or was it the other way round?) by vocalist Adi Newton: The Box: There's a couple of 12" EPs and a couple albums around by them, none of which have seen CD reissues as far as I know.

No Time For Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nASAnFzeCrs

I bumped into a member of The Box a couple of weeks ago. Terry, the bassist. He's currently working with the only member of The Comsat Angels who doesn't want me dead. I am the man who really knows the stars you know.

[Jockice]

Incidentally, if you're interested in the ins and outs of the early Sheffield/indie 80s music scene, I'd highly recommend this blog by former DVA/Box drummer Roger Quail.  https://www.mylifeinthemoshofghosts.com/author/roger-quail/

Adi Newton's real name is Gary Coates.

[Jockice]

I have a 7" single from 1980 by a band called The Dreamboys, which features a song called Bela Lugosi's Birthday that I heard on John Peel at the time and went and bought the record. Not keen on the other tunes but still love the opener:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P7e3PMear0

Vocalist, Peter Capaldi, went on to become an actor, I've heard.

Some bloke called Craig Ferguson was also a member.

[NoSleep]

I bumped into a member of The Box a couple of weeks ago. Terry, the bassist. He's currently working with the only member of The Comsat Angels who doesn't want me dead. I am the man who really knows the stars you know.

As Terry was also in the Comsat Angels, according to his Discogs, does that mean he is working with himself or, otherwise, he also wants you dead?

[NoSleep]

Some bloke called Craig Ferguson was also a member.

Apparently didn't make it to the recording session, though (Robert Livsey on drums).

[Captain Crunch]

As always I'll nominate Pusherman.  They just sort of fell through the gaps didn't they?  And I'm really the last person to talk about 'production' but I always felt their demos and singles had that nice rough feel to them to them whereas the album seemed a bit too fiddled with:

Show Me Slowly single version

Full album

Most of them are brown bread now, very sad. 

[Jockice]

As Terry was also in the Comsat Angels, according to his Discogs, does that mean he is working with himself or, otherwise, he also wants you dead?

Well I saw him again yesterday (we go to the same gym) and he he waved to me so he's obviously playing the long game.

I can't actually remember him being in the Comsats but he probably has worked with them at some point in the past. But it's their keyboardist Andy Peake he's working with at the moment, who incidentally is the only one I've met since exclusively revealing in the paper that they'd split up. So exclusively in fact that three quarters of the band weren't aware of it....

[BlodwynPig]

The History of Gardening

The band that no-one anywhere has talked about (apart from me). Therefore only slightly more talked about than the Yoghurt Weavers.

I think they would be right up the alley of some members of this forum (Cardiac fans for example).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dynqhG5gFag

[Rev+]

Molly Half Head - Salford band, bit more of a rocking less pseudy version of Magazine.

A great band that sadly only had one album's worth of stuff in them.  Still, I stand by my original position as stated in the mid-Nineties:  Oasis are the shit Molly Halfhead.

Also, Cop Shoot Cop.