Sunday 22nd July 2018: The Sarah Records roadshow hits Glasgow!

I've written before about how much Sarah Records meant and continues to mean to me so it's with a heart swollen with pride that I can announce that Not Unloved will be helping make the Glasgow leg of the Sarah Records alumni tour a reality. At one stage it looked likely that the tour wouldn't be stopping-off in Glasgow which was a real shame as there were so many strong connections between Glasgow and Sarah Records (The Wake! The Orchids! The Golden Dawn! Tramway!). The tour has been timed to coincide with Emotional Response's invaluable and admirably lavish Sarah Records vinyl reissues and the line-up is top-drawer:

The customary Facebook event is here

Advance tickets can be purchased via Brown Paper Tickets here

N.B. The Old Hairdressers has a capacity of ~100 so the number of tickets is pretty limited.

Even As We Speak: A rare chance to catch Sydney, Australia's pop geniuses. Not content to fit in with any janglepop orthodoxy, they've incorporated influences as diverse as country and Philly soul. 2017's 'The Black Forest' e.p. was a real joy. It's great to have them back.

Action Painting!: By marrying frenetic guitars with heartfelt lyrics sung with real feeling and a few nods to The Jasmine Minks and Buzzcocks along the way, AP! crafted some of the most vital music released on Sarah. Sure to be a blast live! 

Boyracer: Boyracer took any perceived notion of a single 'Sarah sound' and exploded it in a mess of passion and joyful guitar noise. Their post-Sarah output is a vast thing of wonder! 

Secret Shine: With lashings of guitars through banks of effects pedals, Secret Shine always whipped up a considerable sonic squall. But there were lovely melodies, too. Again, their impressive post-Sarah records should be sought out immediately.

In addition to the live music we're chuffed to have DJ selections from The Wake. The Wake's wondrous records grace the catalogues of some of the finest independent labels ever: Factory, Captured Tracks, LTM and, of course, Sarah. Expect to hear The Fall!

Please tell your pop-loving friends and, if you can, come along. After all, there's very little likelihood of most of these bands playing in Glasgow ever again!

Still stuck on 7" singles!

In the 80s I loved Crackerjack. The best bit was when somebody got gunked (as happens 39mins 35secs into this clip).  I've bought so many records but gone to so many gigs of late (there's been quite a run in Glasgow in recent weeks: Terry/Woolf/Anxeity, Moritz von Oswald, The Goon Sax/Boys Forever/Spinning Coin, Cavern of Anti-Matter, Colleen Green/Cassie Ramone/The Pooches, Bill Orcutt/Okkyung Lee etc. etc.) that on those rare evenings when I do actually sit down to listen to them it feels akin to being sat in a Crackerjack gunking booth, voluntarily pulling the cord and getting soaked to the skin by new music.  At the most recent gunking these are the 7" singles that widened Not Unloved's eyes the most:



What a heart melting slice of bounce-pop!  Tangible Excitement! have tremendous pop pedigree, being a collaboration between Scott Stevens, (singer with The Earthmen, Summer Cats), Stewart Anderson (Boyracer and a million other fab groups) and Mark Monnone (The Lucksmiths, Monnone Alone etc).  For good measure Louis from The Zebras/Bart and Friends guests on guitar, too.  On the flip there's an irresistibly fizzy cover of Tiger Trap's much cherished "Puzzle Pieces" that rivals the original in terms of sheer joy.



I don't think I'll be hearing from any lawyers if I say that The Jeanies have a fondness for the records of Big Star and Milk'n'Cookies.  That, of course, is no bad thing and when they can craft melodies as instantly memorable as "Amilee", they'll earn admiration for more than just having fine record collections.



At a recent gig a friend declared that they were officially over the 60s garage sound and never needed to hear or see another group so fixated on that period ever again.  It being 2016 and hence a whole five decades since the bulk of the touchstone records of that ilk were released, I could see their point.  Then I heard the latest blast of downer garage jangle from Hamburg's The Wrong Society's and knew I wouldn't be turning my back on that sound anytime soon.  The sombre "Don't Know Why" on the flip is particularly beguiling and would earn its place among the greats on any one of my favourite volumes of the Teenage Shutdown series.

Recent Emotional Response split 7"s

For the last few weeks I've searched once a day on Norman Records, Rough Trade, juno.co.uk etc. for the new UV-TV/Shark Toys split 7" on Flagstaff, Arizona's Emotional Response (yeah, the label who released my favourite 7" of 2015). Unfortunately, it hasn't appeared on any of the UK sites so I've had to break my flimsy 'Don't make the US postal system rich' rule and order it direct from the label.  It's a shame that none of the UK sites have seen fit to stock it (yet?) as it deserves to be heard and to be available in however small a way over here.  UV-TV deliver the freshest, zestiest take on the glorious Shop Assistants sound for many a year.  Both songs make me beam.  On the flip, Shark Toys spit out 2 songs of breathless, rattling DIY pop that will set the hearts of Swell Maps/Messthetics lovers to 220 bpm.  A thrilling coupling!

As 2015 melted away, Emotional Response was on a scorching streak, their UV-TV/Shark Toys release following hot on the heels of a couple of blazing split 7"s by Enemy Anemone/Cougar Vox and Linton and Stewart/The Aisler's Set.

Enemy Anemone are a heavenly bunch of Girls At Our Best scholars (featuring label boss Jen Turrell) hopped-up on the various flavours of UK DIY circa 1981 while Cougar Vox play gloriously scrappy rrriot pop that makes you nostalgic for the days when Skinned Teen and Comet Gain first hit vinyl.  Another absolute winner!



Slumberland/Suicide Squeeze alumni The Aislers Set need no introduction. "Big Ocean" (which dates from 2008) finds the group in reflective, acoustic mode.  It features a banjo which laps at your eardrums like those little shoreline waves do so tenderly for roughly 3 days in the Scottish summer.  For their part, (Amy) Linton and Stewart (Anderson, the label's other boss) toss out effortless-sounding, revved-up scooter POP! nuggets.  The duo's second hookup is another treat.



While I'm getting all evangelical about the recent Emotional Response output, it should be mentioned that Boyracer's "Pete Shelley e.p." from summer 2015 is the best thing they've produced in quite a while.  "The Kind of Man You Really Are" administers a stern rebuke to a dud father who doesn't respect his daughter.  It feels like a from-the-gut response to a real event witnessed with horror.  It's yet another belter from a label on fine, fine form.  Let's hope that in 2016 it enjoys significantly better distribution in the UK and beyond and that record buyers don't take it for granted...

Important Note: If you can't find Emotional Response vinyl in your local record shop, Jen and Stew would rather you bought them from jenandstew.com rather than the Emotional Response bandcamp page.