Birmingham’s Surf Drums released their “Black Tambourine” 12″ in 1987 on Joe Foster’s Kaleidoscope Sound label (most famous for releasing “The New Record By My Bloody Valentine”). While the A-side, “Black Tambourine,” is great in that c86 vain, the B-side “All There Is” is really the track that makes this record worth owning. Total Byrds-y perfection.

The Surf Drums were David Kehoe (guitars and vocals), Annie Taylor (organ), Richard Left (guitar), Colin Packwood (bass), and Paul Tibbits (drums). After the Surf Drums split, Annie, Colin and Paul went on to form Korova Milk Bar (Subway/Chapter 22 band). KMB research led me to a post from Nancy’s I’m Not Always So Stupid blog back in 2007. Fun fact: Annie Taylor married Richard March (bassist of PWEI).

Listen to Surf Drums – All There Is
[dewplayer:http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/b_surfdrums.mp3]

click to enlarge

There are just too many good international pop shows happening in the upcoming months (and not enough vacation days for me)… The Hamburg P!O!P! Weekender, the SF & NY popfests, ATP… The Hamburg Weekender makes me especially sad that I’m missing it. Four nights from April 16-19 featuring amazing bands like Days, Cocoanut Groove, Bricolage, Liechtenstein, Northern Portrait, Manhattan Love Suicides, etc. Maybe you can go and tell me all about it.

www.myspace.com/popweekender

Good news! The Wild Swans have a new single out now called “English Electric Lightning.” It’s released on 10″ vinyl on the Occultation label in a limited edition of 900 individually-numbered copies. The sleeve artwork was done by keyboardist Ged Quinn and is a little, um… interesting. The current line-up includes only two original members, Paul Simpson and Ged Quinn — unfortunately no Jerry Kelly. You can preview both tracks on their site: English Electric Lightning / The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years and order the release here. I’m loving “English Electric Lightning!”

thewildswans.co.uk
www.myspace.com/thewildswans

I recently discovered the fantastic 80s band, Endless Bob Brown, thanks to Stephen Walsall’s fantastic Please Rain Fall blog. Their song “Take Your Time” is so amazingly good (!!) and has been playing in the office here on repeat. I so want this on vinyl, but unfortunately none of their material was properly released. Such a shame.

Stephen recently posted more tracks from the band on the blog, including a song called “It’s Harder” – WOW! Where have they been all my life?

Listen to Endless Bob Brown – Take Your Time
[dewplayer:http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/b_endlessbobbrown.mp3]

Head over to the ‘Please Rain Fall’ blog and download the rest!

www.myspace.com/endlessbobbrown

I just received my copy of the Magic Marker 10th anniversary 7″ collection in the mail. Super impressed with the packaging (designed by Todd at Pencrush)! Being a packaging “nerd” myself I can really appreciate the time and energy that went into this. The release features five 7″s in a lovely hand-screened sleeve, pressed in a limited edition of just 200 copies. Magic Marker bands covering the songs of other Magic Marker artists. All for $20. Well done! Definitely pick one up while you still can!

(Sorry my amateur-ish photography doesn’t do the sleeve justice.)

Release details:

7″ #1
The Owls “Springtime Fall” (Dear Nora)
Walker Kong “Bells” (The Bats)

7″ #2
The Manhattan Love Suicides “Superboy & Supergirl” (Tullycraft)
Dear Nora “Air” (The Owls)

7″ #3
BOAT “Nosebleeders on the Track” (The Faintest Ideas)
Galactic Heroes “Former Hero” (Heikki)

7″#4
Tullycraft “Welcome to the Big Ten Conference” (Vehicle Flips)
Birds of California (Lunchbox) “Kick It back” (The Manhattan Love Suicides)

7″” #5
The Gazetteers “Ordinary Day” (Lunchbox)
Kissing Book “Any Kind of Pain” (The Best Friends Group)

Order a copy here

www.magicmarkerrecords.com

The Swedish Fish were an 80s pop group from Toronto, Canada. I’ve read that they sounded like Talulah Gosh or Friends Of The Family, but I don’t hear it. The vocals are more Pauline Murray than Amelia Fletcher, and at times even “Morrissey-esque,” reminding me of The Siddeleys (but of course, not in the same league).

I recently tracked down their second 7″ EP “How Can You Sleep At Night?” You can preview my favorite track “Clever Girl” below. I believe for this release the band’s line-up included Simon Bedford-James (on guitar), Martha Bouchier (on vocals), Saverio Schembri (on guitar), Austin (on bass), John McMahon (on drums), and Chonghye So (on organ). The single was released on Jaimie Vernon and Simon Bedford-James’ label Bullseye Records (SW-006) in 1986. They released another single prior called “She’d Rather Die” which I’m still looking for.

In 1987, the band split and formed a new group called Daughaus, releasing an album “Something I Stepped In” (I swear I’m not making that up!). Then in 2006, the Swedish Fish reformed with two original members (Bedford-James and Bouchier) and played some reunion shows. They released a new album called “Dark Light” on Bullseye Records (incredible that label was still around 20 years later). Check out their Myspace for details. I also see that they’re working on releasing a remastered compilation of all the older stuff. I hope it’s still in the works.

Listen to Swedish Fish – Clever Girl
[dewplayer:http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/b_swedishfish.mp3]

www.myspace.com/originalswedishfish
www.bullseyecanada.com

I just recently found out about the Spanish band Sundae (thanks to a tip from Joel Felipe) and felt they deserved a mention here. They have a really nice sound, definitely more shoegaze than indiepop and very heavily influenced by The Radio Dept. (which is an influence I can get behind). The vocals remind me of Javier Aramburu’s old group, Family, which is probably the highest compliment I can give. Also turns out I know one of the members, Cris, from his past group (Shizuka) and record label (Bubbletone Discos). Good to see he’s still making great music.

Their song “Arte y Ensayo” is so far my favorite track and you can listen to it below. The band just posted their freshly mixed demo on their myspace page. I’m really looking forward to hearing more from them in the future.

Listen to Sundae – Arte y Ensayo
[dewplayer:http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/b_sundae.mp3]

www.myspace.com/sundaeordie