OLD BAD HABITS LABEL part two A whole other sort of band entirely is Bristol art-punk trio PLASTIC BAG. Their debut album The Dead Kings of Europe combines uncompromising yet poetically crafted political commentary with exhilarating, intense music with an often experimental outlook. Dark Times brings together bleak post-punk, frenetic spiky noise and a funky groove. Sunbird's dark, grimy post-punk, pulsing and slicing, gives short shrift to useless politicians and warmongers. Spirit of Houska sets recited lyrics and angular, skittering and wailing guitars over a snaking bassline and improvisational jazzy drums. This Island Earth hums and thrums before bursting into explosive noise, the lyrics attacking environmentally destructive big business. Ol' Jack Boot critiques war and erosion of human rights over a frankly thrilling mix of noisy post-punk, pulsating and fizzing analogue electronica and funky riffage. The music here simultaneously harks back to the spirit of the post-punk era and incorporates a fresh, inventive approach. I've enjoyed listening to this a great deal. Plastic Bag were counted among Louder than War's 24 bands to watch in 2024, and it's easy to see why. Available on red vinyl in gatefold sleeve with lyrics, limited to 200 copies. Also from Bristol is CANDYMOUSE who are made up of former members of a couple of bands who were active during the heyday of indiepop, The Candy Darlings and Mousefolk. Stu Durbin from Mousefolk ran Teatime Records back in the day, which put out a string of excellent singles by the likes of The Spinning Wheels (an early band of Dick Preece from Lovejoy), The Spinning Jennys, The Glory Box, The Sacred Hearts, The Driscolls, and of course both Mousefolk and The Candy Darlings. The label was resurrected more recently and has co-released Candymouse's LP The Light Just Bends with Old Bad Habits, limited to 200 copies with printed inner sleeve featuring lyrics and photo collage. The outer sleeve is based on town photography by Graeme Croft, effectively superimposed with the band logo and album title in the style of neon signs. Don't be misled by Candymouse's twee-sounding name; this is music with bite, that's unafraid to travel outside the confines of standard indiepop. There are some C86-ish numbers here like Are You Our Missing Idiot?, a short, fast, punk-infused indiepop track that rattles and jangles along in just a few seconds, but much else here looks beyond the boundaries of the genre, to take inspiration from such things as synthpop, Americana, film music, and even a cowbell-fuelled 1980s-style rock-out. Boxed Up, originally by fellow Bristolian the Rev. Jonny Kinkaid (aka Jon Kent of The Groove Farm and The Charlie Tipper Rebellion) is an exhilarating mix of driving guitar noise and 80s pop synths. Curious Love is tinged with alt-country and swathed in a dreamlike shimmer, with some nice use of joint male/female vocals. I Can't Sing combines indiepop with a strutting rock sound something along the lines of 1980s Rolling Stones, a combination that shouldn't work but surprisingly does. I Don't Understand This Music brings together the dark-edged synthpop of Depeche Mode with hints of retrofuturism and shoegaze atmospherics, the lyrics showing that wry sense of humour that characterises much of their songwriting. King of the Pricks juxtaposes a singsongy tune with powerful fuzzed-up guitars, the lyrics keeping you guessing as to which politician they're singing about. Leccy Car is punky pop full of chug and fuzz and an addictive melody, with jokey lyrics about smoking a fat cigar and wearing shoes from a posh bazaar while driving round in an electric car. Maybe they're satirising someone in particular, maybe it's just a bit of absurdist humour, but it's a lot of fun either way. Last of the True Believers is a rollicking, anthemic, ultra-catchy celebration of the DIY ethos with equal space for jangle and noise. The album closes with Operation Oxbow which introduces a sense of spy movie drama alongside the wall of fuzz. Excellent, powerful music that takes indiepop into new territories. Also available at Teatime Records, with only a few copies remaining there. Members of various Spanish punk and garage outfits (Cuchillo de Fuego, Travesti Afgano, Peluquería Canina, Lobishome, Djalminha, The Phantom Keys) have formed a new band, NUTRIAS, taking their inspiration from the C86 scene and labels such as Flying Nun, K, and Sarah. I'm not familiar with any of the other bands these guys are in but they must be pretty noisy. Apparently Nutrias represent a move away from their other bands' usual wild style, but they still sound pretty wild to these ears, with music that shows firm roots in the punk idiom, despite the additional pop influence. I'm guessing their favourite Sarah bands must be Action Painting! and Boyracer rather than, say, Brighter or Blueboy. El Alborotado de las Nutrias is an 8-song mini-album that plays at 45rpm. It's a joint release between Old Bad Habits, three Spanish labels: Discos de Kirlian, Ferror, and Pafff... Bum, and Third Uncle Records in USA, while the CD version is out through Subjangle in South Africa. There were only 20 copies available through Old Bad Habits' Bandcamp, with just 8 of those left at the time of writing. The rowdiness of the music is reflected in the artwork that shows the band as cartoon football hooligans wielding an assortment of weapons; the football theme continues on the back cover which spoofs the England team's Three Lions logo with five cutesy cats. There is of course a connection between indiepop and punk. The more melodic punk bands like The Undertones and Buzzcocks are acknowledged as an influence on the genre, and the DIY ethos that originated with punk carried over into indiepop. Whilst a newcomer to the genre might not recognise the punk connection in the more restrained, melancholic bands, the link is more obvious in bands like The Pooh Sticks, The Haywains, the aforementioned Boyracer and Action Painting!, and several of the C86 bands. Many in the indiepop scene consider indiepop and punk to be two sides of the same coin. This link is very evident with Nutrias, whose music straddles pure punk and the kind of scrappy, punk-derived pop that fed into C86, the K label, and so forth. Hey (Here Comes Your Pendejo) pairs happy-go-lucky indiepop jangle with forceful punk vocals, adding the sci-fi sound of a keyboard that sounds kind of like a theremin. Dispara is melodic punk with quickfire vocals and more of those spacey electronics. La Pelota No Se Mancha juxtaposes fast punky shouting with sweet da-da-da backing vocals over rattly noisepop. Mi Amigo Mark E Smith is DIY pop with shades of Beat Happening and early Television Personalities. The album closes with the raw punk rock 'n' roll of Portonovo Über Alles. An absolute punk-pop rush, very much recommended! We return to Bristol for the next release, Everything Lasts Forever by PHONSECA, the second album from this electronic project centred around Matthew O'Connor, a classically-trained pianist who has composed library music that has appeared on BBC 1 and Channel 5, and Kristina Sheppard, a Swedish vocalist who sounds professionally trained, with a silky smooth voice that has vibrato in all the right places. As with Dreams of Delvaux's Shade Mystique, this is an album that took a couple of listens for me to really get it. First time around it struck me as not at all typical for Old Bad Habits, and something that would have more appeal to a mainstream audience. They even cover Petula Clark's easy listening mega-hit Downtown - let's face it, you can't get much more middle of the road than that. Phonseca's version does however add some edge with its blend of icy ambience and busy dance rhythm. I wasn't sure if this album was really my thing initially, but the sheer loveliness of the music sank in on the second listen. Much of the songwriting is basically indiepop at heart, but performed by pro musicians and polished up in a way that would make the songs relateable to those steeped in chart pop or film music. Phonseca do in fact have links with the Bristol indie scene, with Jez Butler of The Groove Farm and Beatnik Filmstars mastering the album and Scott Purnell of Secret Shine providing the artwork. Staring at the Sea combines the spirit of melancholic indiepop with a luxurious electronic arrangement. While not sounding exactly like Saint Etienne, the song has the same kind of dual alternative/mainstream appeal as them. English Night is bouncy electropop taking in a slower mid-section with dreamlike orchestration and soaring vocals. Chasing Sleep is a filmic instrumental with hypnotically repeating piano, crashing wave sounds and swelling ambient synths, calming and beautiful. When Night Equals Day features pensive, introspective songwriting surrounded by evocative ambient soundscaping and piano-led sophistication. Everything Lasts Forever includes guests from around the world reciting "everything lasts forever until the stars go out" in their own language over gentle cinematic electronica. Our Star is a plaintive neoclassical piece demonstrating Matthew O'Connor's virtuoso piano playing; technically impressive and imbued with melancholic beauty. While somewhat outside of my usual listening areas, this is an album I'm glad I stuck with and got to appreciate as it's a real grower. 150 copies on black vinyl with printed inner sleeve, sure to sell out fast given the potentially wide appeal the music has. Also out now is Forgive & Forget by MARYTRONICA, a new synthpop offshoot of Mary Queen of Scots. I'm far too personally invested in this album to actually review it, seeing as my husband Chris is the songwriter and musician behind the project and I appear on a few tracks as backing vocalist, so am instead simply announcing its availability. The album brings together a mix of upbeat electronic pop inspired by bands such as Saint Etienne and Mint Royale, and slower melancholic songs that bring to mind The Field Mice. On 10" black vinyl limited to 120 copies, available on Discogs. For more info on Marytronica visit www.facebook.com/marytronica Next on Old Bad Habits: 10"s by former Sarah band Action Painting! and Tel Aviv janglepoppers The Shoken Boys, followed by forthcoming releases from The Wonky Folk (including members of The Beta Band, Paul Groovy and the Pop Art Experience, The Green Hornets, Thee Lonely Hearts, Milton Underground Resistance, Steve Mason band), The Science of Words (ex-Rosehips), The Drain on the Balcony, Crabber, The Water Striders, The Quarterlies (ex-Loch Ness Mouse), and a final release that hasn't been announced yet but is promised to be special! I'm hoping to be able to report on these in more depth in future. I'm very sad to say that Old Bad Habits will be closing after this last record. The label will be much missed by me and many others, having been one of the premier sources of indiepop over the past few years, and also open minded enough to venture into other musical areas. It's hard to imagine another label coming along that puts out quite the same mix of music, and is as much aligned with my own tastes. There will be a big empty hole in the underground scene without Old Bad Habits, without a doubt. But we still have their existing releases, which show the huge contribution OBH made to the world of DIY music, with releases from the likes of Jowe Head (ex-Swell Maps/Television Personalities), The Flatmates, Davey Woodward (ex-Brilliant Corners), Beatnik Filmstars, Silver Biplanes (ex-Razorcuts/Melons), and Sean Dickson of The Soup Dragons' early bedroom recording project Silent Industry, among many others. The label shone a light on the Bristol underground scene, introduced new Greek bands to an international audience, and much more besides. The OBH guys aim to continue with their yearly Athens Pop Underground Fest and Convention, so will not be gone from the scene for good! The records can be ordered from oldbadhabitslabel.bandcamp.com. Orders of the more recent releases from UK buyers will be sent from within the UK by Shambotic. Jigsaw Records are distributing OBH releases in USA. |
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