OLD BAD HABITS LABEL part one First we have the self-titled album by SILENT INDUSTRY, Sean Dickson's pre-Soup Dragons recording project! These songs were recorded when Sean was aged 14-15, using a Roland synth and drum machine, cheap Casio mini-keyboard, and cheap mic, overdubbed via twin tape deck in his bedroom. Old Bad Habits, in association with Shambotic, have rescued these recordings from oblivion, releasing them on semi-translucent orange vinyl limited to 200 copies, with sleeve notes by Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub and Duglas T Stewart of BMX Bandits, giving their memories of Sean and his early recordings. The sleeve shows the original Silent Industry cassette and the artwork Sean made for it which has rather an early 20th century modernist feel along the lines of Bauhaus (the art movement not the band), done with two-colour biro and pencil. Sean goes by Hifi Sean these days, but what we're hearing here is very much 'lo-fi Sean'. The sound quality is much as you'd expect given the way in which the album was recorded, with tape hiss coming through in the quieter moments, but a strong songwriting talent is in evidence here, as well as a sense of ingenuity in making the most of such a primitive recording setup. And when you consider Sean was just a kid when he wrote/recorded this stuff, that makes it all the more impressive. They Split is an instrumental that recalls the TV themes of the day, with quirky squelchy synth sounds and a preset drum rhythm I recognise from my own early 80s Casio keyboard. If you were to hear this piece out of context, you'd be forgiven for thinking it a product of the hauntology movement, viewing old TV themes through the lens of half-forgotten childhood nostalgia, but this track was of course made when this kind of music was still current as television music. Tomorrow's Another Day combines the post-punk synthpop of early New Order with an insistent rhythmic synth line in the Giorgio Moroder vein. High Tide is off-kilter homemade electropop bringing together shades of The Human League and Soft Cell with a quickfire dancey rhythm that prefigured the house music that would be all over the charts a few years later. Dance Craze is a kind of proto-house with funky, spacey and experimental tendencies. We start to hear the beginnings of the indiepop Sean would be making later in Waste Away, a musically perky, lyrically pessimistic number whose melody was resurrected for BMX Bandits' Strawberry Sunday. Whilst the music shows an inspiration from the kind of synthpop that was big in the early 80s, like Depeche Mode, and the aforementioned Soft Cell, Human League, and New Order (though replacing the pop polish of these chart bands with a firmly DIY approach), Silent Industry takes these influences in a new direction that is quite experimental at times and ahead of the curve, sounding on occasions like musical movements that were still in their infancy and not yet mainstream (eg house) or didn't exist yet at all (eg hauntology). An important historical artefact, both for Soup Dragons fans and anyone into the forward-looking synth music of the early 1980s. The Soup Dragons connection meant this album sold out at source immediately on vinyl, though it's still available as a download, or try Discogs for the remaining copies from third-party sellers. SILVER BIPLANES are led by vocalist Vanessa Vass (formerly in The Melons with Sheggi from Fat Tulips) and multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Tim Vass (best known for his work with Razorcuts, but also involved with the one-off Sarah Records band The Forever People, and a couple of bands who were combining folk and psychedelia with indiepop long before anyone else, namely Red Chair Fadeaway and Dandelion Wine), joined by Rob Scott (also ex-Melons), Noel Douglas and Steve Peebles. Their second album, Travelling by Candlelight, is jointly released by Old Bad Habits and WIAIWYA. A lot of care has gone into the presentation, with a high-gloss card sleeve featuring a slimline font that oozes 1970s sophistication, the song titles arranged in visually appealing curves; a printed inner sleeve with lyrics and photos; and for the first 30 buyers, a card signed by all band members. Naturally, it's pressed on silver vinyl, a nice touch that ties in with the band name and the set of four silver-themed cover versions the album includes alongside the new material written by Tim Vass. Opening track Hell in a Handcart is classic jangly indiepop with a subtly psychedelic undercurrent. There are nods towards this sort of sound elsewhere on the album, but don't be fooled into expecting a straightforward, pure indiepop album. The music here is eclectic yet cohesive and draws from some unexpected yet effective influences. Radiogram seems to owe more to Hawkwind than anything indiepop, so it's no surprise that they covered Silver Machine in all its chugging and whirring spacerock glory. There's the smooth country-tinged 70s pop of Silver Moon (originally by Mike Nesmith and the First National Band), the shimmering retro synthpop of Broken Instruments, and a cover of Hamilton Streetcar's Silver Wings, laid-back piano pop ornamented by retro synths. Just One More Thing is indiepop accompanied by vintage organ and ethereal effects, its bright melody contrasting with the lyrical exasperation. Silver Cloud, originally by La Dusseldorf, takes in intense heady psychedelia, a motorik rhythm, and joyous summery ba-ba-bas. A refreshingly open-minded album that takes indiepop into territories rarely ventured, and in doing so proves the pointlessness of genre boundaries and musical tribalism. As surreal as it may seem that a band aligned with the indiepop scene would be doing Hawkwind or La Dusseldorf covers, the album shows these things go together far better than one might assume. Strongly recommended. Limited to 300 copies with only a few remaining at Old Bad Habits. THE CHARLIE TIPPER REBELLION is the latest incarnation of the ever-changing Charlie Tipper project whose previous forms included the Charlie Tipper Experiment, Charlie Tipper Conspiracy, and Arrest! Charlie Tipper. The members have a long history in the Bristol music scene, having previously been in bands such as The Groove Farm, Beatnik Filmstars, The Flatmates, Five Year Plan, and Rorschach. Their LP Second Time Around is limited to 150 copies and comes with an insert with photos and info, including the story behind their choice of album title, which makes for interesting reading. In an effort to move away from possible perceptions of being a "slightly shambolic, lo-fi garage band who threw things together and glued them with noise", they recorded this latest album in a proper studio with "nice amps, nice guitars [and] nice microphones". But fear not - this is not the sound of a band who have polished all the life out of their music. They still sound like an underground band I'm pleased to say, and are still unafraid to make a noise - they're just feeding that noise through snazzier equipment. The title track is based around a song that recalls the kind of indie music that was breaking through to the mainstream in the early 90s, bands like The Charlatans et al, though the arrangement is much more underground-friendly with psych/garage riffage and an intense instrumental psych-out at the end. Under the Ocean pt 2 takes in half-spoken vocals and a touch of US alt-folk. The fuzz-and-chug noisepop of Forever Falling probably comes closest to what Tim Rippington was doing in his earlier band Beatnik Filmstars. Framed recalls the kind of noisepop that got tagged as 'lo-fi' back in the 90s, regardless of actually being recorded in a professional studio; 'lo-fi' here was more a style and attitude than a reference to its actual recording quality. But there's also a difference from those 90s bands in the use of fast bleeping retrofuturistic electronics and lazy hazy distorted slide guitar, both giving a distinctive flavour to the piece. Under the Ocean pt 1, which actually comes along later than part two, combines catchy 1950s-ish melodies, noisy fuzz and hypnotic bass, sounding somewhere between The Velvet Underground and The Jesus and Mary Chain, while also incorporating the swooping, swishing sci-fi sounds of an analogue synth. The Data Set is urgent, on-edge noisepop underscored by a layer of fuzz and overlaid by melodic ba-ba-bas. A casual listen would place the band in the 'lo-fi as genre' pigeonhole as referred to above, but when listening more deeply and carefully, you will actually hear a broad mix of influences coming together to create a cohesive sound. Another winner from the continually recommended Charlie Tipper project. The next two releases from Old Bad Habits are 10" mini-albums by Greek bands. The Way Back by SECRET POSTCARDS comprises six tracks on clear vinyl, with visually appealing graphic design based around a collage of what looks to be Risograph prints, plus printed inner sleeve with lyrics, limited to 200 numbered copies. Dear Diary combines early 90s tweepop with the ethereal swirl of shoegaze, and in addition, will occasionally hint at the lo-fi dissonance of early Hood. Sunny features a joyously catchy riff echoing The Field Mice's Emma's House, combined with a certain ragged-edged fuzz-factor. Now and then the guitar sound carries a surfy twang akin to 1960s instrumental bands. Far Away brings together indiepop jangle and heady shoegaze atmospherics, having shades of Secret Shine and early Lush. The sweetly melancholic fuzz- and jangle-pop of The Way Back and the wistful, dreamy Star September will also delight fans of the classic era of indiepop. Excellent stuff that takes me back to the indiepop scene that was current when I first started exploring the genre around 35 years ago. There's a Sarah-esque vibe here, but perhaps even more of a similarity with the kind of music on labels like Sunday, Bring On Bull, or Heaven, while shoegaze and dreampop clearly played a part in shaping this band's sound too. Great to hear a band active today who are bringing all these things together and keeping classic indiepop alive! LOW CEILING take their name from the garage where they rehearsed, the ceiling of which was so low that they had to play sitting down. Their 7-track mini-album Mode, limited to 150 copies on orange vinyl with printed inner sleeve, reveals the band to be on the noisier side of Old Bad Habits, with a style that brings together elements of post-punk and indie-rock. Mercy Joy combines the angularity and vocal style of The Fall with the 1990s indie rock sound epitomised by bands such as Pavement. Rinokeros has a frenetic, dramatic sound that comes across like a post-punk spy movie soundtrack. Excuse the System is a kind of avant garde, post-punk art-rock, with guitar work that sounds almost psychedelic and proggy at times but appearing within an indie rock idiom. There is again a distinct Mark E Smith influence on the vocals at times. The music has a powerful energy, and while owing something to bands from the past such as The Fall and Pavement, also takes these influences into new territories. It's not often I'll hear indie rock or post-punk bands who seem to be bringing in film soundtrack or prog touches, and this gives Low Ceiling's music an innovative twist. This is an album that grows on me with each listen and can be recommended to fans of the more angular, off-centre side of post-punk and indie rock. Stay tuned for part two of this issue's feature on the Old Bad Habits Label, with reviews of the new albums by Dreams of Delvaux, Plastic Bag, Candymouse, Nutrias, and Phonseca. All Old Bad Habits releases can be purchased at oldbadhabitslabel.bandcamp.com |
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