Under The Bridge: The Orchids

Last week, Skep Wax Records (run by Amelia Fletcher & Rob Pursey) released their new compilation ‘Under The Bridge’. Essential listening for any Sarah Records fans, it’s made by all the bands which made the label iconic. Some are under new guises but the personal and therefore, the love, remains.

Images courtesy of Skep Wax Records.

This week we will be reviewing our favourite tracks. Today we focus on hazy pop pioneers The Orchids and their new track Don’t ‘Mean to Stare’.

Under The Bridge may be reuniting former label mates from the 80s and 90s but, it is very much about the future. None more so than for Scotland’s The Orchids as their ‘Don’t Mean to Stare’ is due to feature on their as yet untitled album released later this year.

Whilst the guitars begin with their iconic laissez-faire vibe from ‘A Kind of Eden’, the past remains firmly where it is. They venture towards the vibrant percussion on Ra Ra Riot and the vocal playfulness of Britt Daniel (Spoon) as the guitars spiral in and out of view.

The XX and hints of Afrobeat unite as the song lazily but joyously climaxes. It may have taken the band a while to make the upcoming album but, on this showing, it looks worth the wait.

The album is available to buy on Skep Wax’s Bandcamp page

You can catch most of the bands at their two all-day gigs this April. Click the image for tickets:

Under The Bridge: Jetstream Pony

Last week, Skep Wax Records (run by Amelia Fletcher & Rob Pursey) released their new compilation ‘Under The Bridge’. Essential listening for any Sarah Records fans, it’s made by all the bands which made the label iconic. Some are under new guises but the personal and therefore, the love, remains.

The single & compilation are available to buy on their Bandcamp page.

This week we will be reviewing our favourite tracks. Today we focus on indie supergroup Jetstream Pony. Made up of Beth Arzy (Aberdeen/Luxembourg Signal), Shaun Charman (The Wedding Present/The Popguns), Kerry Boettcher (Turbocat), and Hannes Müller (The BV’s).

Their featured track ‘Strood McD F.C’ was recorded at Sunny Studio in East Sussex and is taken from their mini-album ‘Misplaced Words’. The recording studio and title track couldn’t be more apt as Arzy’s utilises cut and paste lyrics on this sunlit track indebted to Medway.

The Byrds-esque jangle quickly crashes into the bass power of Sonic Youth to create a unique sense of lysergic punk. Maybe all bands should be based in Brighton and Croydon as this clash of styles are superb! At times, it’s as though Gedge, Andy Bell, and The Shirelles are playing Sonic Youth covers in the garage for no one but themselves, it’s that carefree.

Arzy’s vocals just keep going from strength to strength in what is, an already staggering career. Her angelic tones are omnipresent but here, a laid-back smoky soul music affair meanders in to open audiences up to yet more divinity.

The album is available to buy on Skep Wax’s Bandcamp page

You can catch most of the bands at their two all-day gigs this April. Click the image for tickets:

Under The Bridge: Even As We Speak

Last week, Skep Wax Records (run by Amelia Fletcher & Rob Pursey) released their new compilation ‘Under The Bridge’. Essential listening for any Sarah Records fans, it’s made by all the bands which made the label iconic. Some are under new guises but the personal and therefore, the love, remains.

Images courtesy of Skep Wax Records.

This week we will be reviewing our favourite tracks. Today we focus on Aussie indie pioneers Even As We Speak. Their offering, ‘Begins Goodbye’ jumps right back into the much-loved sounds of ‘Feral Pop Frenzy’ with infectious vocals and unexpected twists.

Musically, they tap into the sauntering sonic of ‘Going Down To Liverpool’. They bring The Bangles’ enriching girl group harmonies towards their penchant for wistful guitars resulting in a genius breakdown and blissful conclusion.

However, this is not a simple rehash of classic indie-pop. Where The Bangles youthful exuberance raced through city nightlife, Mary Wyer’s vocals feel more in tune with hazier suburban landscapes on this sage yet still an adventurous piece of advice.

Whilst the evanescent energy of their classic ‘Falling Down The Stairs’ is musically reawakened, lyrically, its essence presents itself as a wiser arm around the shoulder for anyone lost midlife. Wyer’s sun-kissed beauty recognises the problems (“our lives get small and our dreams get compromised”) but, shakes it off with such positivity “nobody knows what tomorrow may bring”. Not all clarion calls sound like The Clash!

The guitars have such purpose throughout, from angelic to rip-roaring road movie climactic scenes, it’s impossible not to be moved by this single!

The album is avail;able to buy on Skep Wax’s Bandcamp page

You can catch most of the bands at their two all day gigs this April. Click the image for tickets:

Under The Bridge: The Wake

On Friday, Skep Wax Records (run by Amelia Fletcher & Rob Pursey) released their new compilation ‘Under The Bridge’. Essential listening for any Sarah Records fans, it’s made by all the bands which made the label iconic. Some are under new guises but the personal and therefore, the love, remains.

Images courtesy of Skep Wax Records.

This week we will be reviewing our favourite tracks. We begin with Glasgow outfit The Wake and their featured track ‘Stockport’.

Originally signed to Factory Records, they made the switch to Sarah Records for album number three ‘Make It Loud’ in 1990. The track ‘Stockport’ was the opening track for their critically acclaimed comeback album ‘A Light Far Out’ released in 2012.

Although originally released in 2012, their disdain for cultural homogenisation “towns all look the same” feels as apt now as ever. There’s not a curmudgeonly sense of ‘things used to be better’ at play though, there’s very much a forlorn sense of hope. Things could, should but don’t look like they will get better. With this government pretending they’ve been in power for 7minutes rather than 12 years, it’s a discourse that resonates powerfully. As it surely must have done during Cameron’s austerity savaged the UK.

The guitars are a glorious contradiction. So infectious, and tinged with the sun but, a sun that’s setting and will soon be gone. The remnants of a town they know to be lurking, that could be reawakened for good forever out of their grasp. Not since Blue Nile’s ‘Tinseltown in the Rain’ has fading glamour sounded so great!

The album is avail;able to buy on Skep Wax’s Bandcamp page

You can catch most of the bands at their two all day gigs this April. Click the image for tickets: