"Eyes Rind As If Beggars"by The Garbage and The Flowers occupies a unique place in my heart. Seldom has a record come from seemingly nowhere (somehow I missed all the reviews which must have been stellar and none of the music obsessives that I hung around with mentioned it even in passing upon its first release in 1997) had such an impact on me. Excitingly, Grapefruit Record Club has a new collection of pre-"Eyes Rind..." material due for release this week (thanks for the tip, G!). "The Deep Niche" features the choral nursery rhyme sweetness of "Sandy Skies" which approaches their own "Love Comes Slowly Now" for sheer love-inducing prettiness:
The fidelity and feel are perfect and lend it the magical air of some long lost acetate of Vashti fronting The Velvet Underground that some lucky soul chanced upon in a flea market or garage sale. I'm purposefully not listening to any more of "The Deep Niche" in advance of hearing the vinyl to keep the moment special. If only Volcanic Tongue were still around to ensure that it came to Glasgow.
There hasn't been a group from New Zealand that I like more than The Garbage and the Flowers so it's exciting that this exists and has been made freely available:
Lately, Not Unloved has been obsessing over a couple of 20 year old tracks from the southern hemisphere that have very little in common sonically. "Into Your Arms" by Australia's Love Positions(from "Billiepeebup" on Damien Hirst's favourite label Half A Cow)is the beguiling, if brief, original of a song made famous by The Lemonheads in the early 90s. I always liked their version, always admired its simplicity and the unembarrassed sentimentality of its lyrics but Love Positions' version is so much sparser and so much prettier. Mind you, former The Hummingbirds bassist Robyn St. Clare's voice possesses a rare sweetness that Evan Dando was never gonna quite match. Just how my ears have managed to dodge such a gorgeous voice in two decades of pop digging is a source of consternation round these parts. Time to start excavating The Hummingbirds' back catalogue, I reckon. Hopefully, Robyn handled lots of the vocal duties...
Much messier but equally beautiful in its own careering way is The Garbage and The Flowers' "Catnip". These New Zealanders made one of my favourite lps of 2011 (it was, in fact, a reissue of a cassette sold at gigs) which was subtle and intimate. It in no way prepared me for the driving, squealing, extended grind of their 1992 single "Catnip". The idea of a riot grrrl (Helen Johnstone - I don't know if she aligned herself with the Riot Grrrls but she sure screamed like yr Huggy Bear and Bikini Kill used to) fronting an out of control The Stooges isn't something I would've dreamed up but this single makes the case for it being a good one. Luckily, there was a fairly cheap unplayed copy of the 7" (on Twisted Village of Cambridge, Massachussets, U.S.A.) on discogs which I bought so I can now blast it on repeat to the detriment of my hearing but to the benefit of my heart.
