The Hangover Lounge's 5th Birthday

Glasgow's a great, great city.  Culturally, it's vibrant to an almost insane degree.  It's hard to keep up with everything that's going on so you miss more than you see.  What it doesn't have, however, is The Hangover Lounge.  You have to go to London for that.  The weekend after next (May, 26th) it celebrates it's 5th birthday with a gig at its regular home, The Lexington, featuring 3 special groups:

My love for Birdie knows no bounds.  Debsey Wykes possesses one of the finest pop voices ever to be etched into vinyl.  I was lucky enough to see Birdie a little over a year ago (thanks, again, to The Hangover Lounge team) so I know what I'll be missing by not being to see them next week.  Amor de Dias and Hacia Dos Veranos have created two of the loveliest, classiest lps of the year so far and both will keep things thoughtful and sophisticated.  With this show to look forward to and the memory of Robert Forster's appearance at their recent celebration of the life and work of his fellow Go-Between, Grant McLennan, The Hangover Lounge Organising Committee must be sporting smiles as wide as 70s flares.  If at all possible, be there on the 26th.  There's not even the remotest chance that you'll regret it!

I Can't Wait To Love You

Garage bands inspired by the greats of the 60s as compiled on Nuggets, Pebbles etc. were ten a penny in the 80s but, in the main, the standard was pretty high.  One of the best of the bunch from the janglier/folk-rockier end of the spectrum was Mystic Eyes and their lusty and lustrous 1990 single "I Can't Wait To Love You" (unbelievably, still available through the Get Hip Records online store) still sets the pulse racing:

Just like that incredible solo from The Byrds' "Feel A Whole Lot Better",  its guitars whirl like ceilidh dancers and Bernie Kugel's endearingly nerdy vocal couldn't be more romantic.  To play this song quietly even once would be a total travesty so TURN IT UP and shake yr fringe!

Play With Fire

Jimmy C and The Chelsea Five's version of The Rolling Stones' "Play With Fire" is so restrained and hushed that, for my money, it easily eclipses the more famous group's version:

Just listen to the way the opening jangle subsides to a damped strum; so subtle.  And that vocal! It's the very epitome of moody cool.  Flipping the 7" over reveals a brighter, perkier folk-rock number which, again, is a complete winner: 

One of the strongest double-siders I've heard from a decade of great pairings.  Of course, I don't have an original copy of this majestic record but I do have the group endorsed 13 O'Clock Records - much loved round these parts for their corking The Higher State releases - reissue thanks to the MBrooks MPorium.  What a shame that "Play With Fire" was the Dallas, Texas group's sole release.

Sea Pinks (free download & gigs!)

After two essential lps and a couple of cassettes of uncluttered, super-crisp guitar pop, any news of activity on the Sea Pinks front is cause for celebration so it's exciting to note:

a) They've released a new song which (generously!) is free to download at the moment:

b) They're playing at Mono (Glasgow) next Monday (May, 6th):

Finally, I get to see Sea Pinks!  It's sure to be an evening to savour with Sacred Paws' appearance coming hot on the heels of last Friday's triumphant set at The Glue Factory where their hyped-up township punk set the dancefloor alight.  Coming at the end of a Bank Holiday weekend, it'll help beat the back-to-work blues.

The facebook page for the Glasgow gig is here.

Their other tour dates are listed here.

Irma Vep

Those who bought Golden Grrrls' corking debut lp from Monorail Music in Glasgow, also received a cd-r of other people's songs compiled by the group.  Tracks by The Dovers, West Coast Pop Art Experimental  Band etc. provide ample evidence that they know their history but it was "Guilt" by Manchester's Irma Vep which piqued my interest and sent me scurrying to Soundcloud and bandcamp for a dig around.  That's when I came across this dizzying dose of dirge pop:

Turn it up and crawl inside!  "The Jerk" is slated to appear on the a-side of a 7" on The Great Pop Supplement, proving once again just what well calibrated ears that label has.  Folks within striking distance of Glasgow have the chance to see the group perform live at The Old Hairdressers this Tuesday, 30th April*.  Go on, give the Champions League a miss, for once - you won't regret it!

* - As with the recent Brilliant Colors Old Hairdressers gig, the promotion on this show hasn't been great so far.  Putting up a few posters in sister venues isn't really enough in 2013.  At the very least it should be listed on the venue's website or facebook page.   I know it's a lot of work and they could be short-staffed or whatever so I'm loath to be too critical but either the promoter or the venue owes it to the acts appearing to do their best to spread the word about the show.  Mind you, maybe I'm just too old and subscribed to the wrong forums and condemned, therefore, to be forever uninformed.

Update:

My brain's a bit pickled!  I didn't have the GG cd-r to hand when I rummaged online and wrote the words above.  Now that I do, it turns out that the track labelled as "Guilt" is actually The Jerk" which, I guess, is great news as it'll tide me over till the vinyl is released.  Hurrah!

The Prefab Messiahs "Prefab Sun"

Not Unloved is spectacularly weak when it comes to keeping up a series of themed posts.  A while back there were plans to do a lengthy series of posts covering 'New (to me) vintage D.I.Y.' music. I got as far as #1.  A dismal effort all round, really.  #2 was intended to be on early 80s Wormtown (beat that for a place name!), Massachussets group The Prefab Messiahs after David and Heather Leigh from Volcanic Tongue persuaded me that I needed that group's 12".  They, of course, were right - it's a charming, addictive record of which I've grown very fond.  Their best song, however, was released as the b-side of the "Franz Kafka" 7" (Almost Ready).  Every element of "Prefab Sun" is lovable.  If, after the first listen, you're not shaking your fringe and dopily singing "Under a prefab sun. Woah! Under a prefab sun!", you wanna get yrself checked for anaemia!  It has the same winning live garage band feel as those brilliant Long Branch recordings by the The Modern Lovers and very little can match its intro for metallic (but not, y'know, metal) attack.  There's a sort of stumbling, fumbling genius at work on "Prefab Sun".

Pet Cat

These days, I forget more than I remember.  Listening to Gideon Coe's show to hear Stephen Pastel talking about the new Pastels record, I was reminded that I'd resolved to seek out the group Pet Cat who Gideon played a week or two ago; the song "Puppet", I think.  They're one of the most promising noisy guitar pop bands to chafe my ears since, say, Sweet Bulbs or possibly the Ringo Deathstarr of "Rip".  Just listen to the way "Dreams" picks up momentum over time, getting ever more exhilarating as it goes:

Their debut physical release is a cassette (plus download, of course!) limited to a paltry 50 copies. Best get in there quick!  Part of me wants to hold off, however, in the hope that these songs find a home on vinyl where they'd prosper and grow.  At 9 minutes and 16 seconds, the title track, "Wires", demonstrates that they can produce compelling long-form pieces that are dynamic and varied enough to hold the interest.  It's to Gideon Coe's credit that a bunch of noisy young pretenders can send him an unsolicited tape of songs recorded in a day, receive a fair listen and find themselves blasting out over the airwaves without having a PR machine behind them.  It's how radio should be but so seldom is.  Public service broadcasting at its best, I'd say!