Welcome to the ramblings of a man who really should have grown out of listening to "that sort of music" a long, long time ago...A place to share thoughts and photographs on music and related paraphernalia.
Popping this much anticipated and fabulously packaged piece of vinyl onto my old record player for the first-time, kindles feelings of optimism. It has been a long year, and now we are into the darker end of 2020. Having lapped up Fleur's previous two singles, I knew that I was in for a treat with her self-titled debut album which is out now on Bickerton Records. Opening track is the uplifting "La Tribu Des Trompette", which gives rise to a severe case of hip-wiggling, oh and when that guitar kicks in during the middle eight, it lets you know that this isn’t just your standard ‘60s copy-cat affair. "Mon Ami Martien" (Fleur’s first single) is an easy-breezy two-minute pop song. Her martian friend, who could it be? It’s kitsch, quirky, and sunny. "Plus De Rouge" is just sublime. If I close my eyes I am strolling through Paris with Alain Delon on a pleasant sunny day (do not wake me up!). Unfortunately my schoolgirl French isn’t what it was, so I can’t fully translate the lyrics, but it matters not, because I’m whisked away somewhere else at the click of a switch, and oh my goodness, don’t we all need that this year? "Etoile Magique" evokes the ghost of Joe Meek, and he’s back to reclaim the song he wishes he’d made! That gently cantering rhythm, the otherworldly lowrey/clavioline-esque organ sound, coupled with Fleur’s dulcet tones, again making pop-beat perfection. There is the obligatory kooky ode to "Monsieur Dracula", which has a bouncy rhythm à la Rhubarb & Custard. Ever wondered what The Electric Prunes would sound like with a female singer? Well now you don’t have to because "Moi et Toi, Toi et Moi" brings you just that; unadulterated psych-pop goodness. The album wraps up with Fleur's 2nd single "Petit De Homme Papier" and you can read about that here… In summary, Fleur, and her backing band Les Robots present a sound that is the musical equivalent of spring and summer (circa 1966 of course). Authentic yet modern, the reverberations of which fill my room full of sunshine, tulips, daffodils, and breathe new life into a very familiar sound. Even my cat Sandy is purring along! Outstanding.
- Ms Sheringham-Boom, December 2020
You can order the album from Fleur's Bandcamp site here and for more information check out the Fleur Facebook page here. You can hear a track from the album and Fleur's other band The Colour Collection in Retrosonic Podcast Episode 39. With thanks to Ms Sheringham-Boom. Ms Sheringham-Boom is the bassist in Edinburgh's premier purveyors of Garage Rock, Thee Girl Fridays.
The Voo-Dooms "Step Inside The Doom!" Mini-LP on Spinout Nuggets - Following 2018's debut "Destination Doomsville" LP on Trash Wax Records, last year's "And It Goes Like This…" EP on Spinout Nuggets, and many gigs later, The Voo-Dooms are back from the grave, if you will. Not that they have been dormant for that long, but I have been looking forward to hearing this new offering and have been following the recording progress from Ranscombe Studios in Kent (thanks to social media). I must admit, a large part of the excitement was because I had heard that the Doomettes, Mary Tee and Jo-Jo A Go-Go, were to be involved. "Step Inside The Doom" opens with "Stop Haunting Me" which is SO darn catchy it catapults me right back to my early teens when I was hearing Garage, Beat and/or Trash (as it was called back then, yes I’m old...) for the first time.
Ah, that life changing moment, if only it could be bottled. Well maybe it has been? The theme continues with "She's Gonna Cry Tonight" a song about dumping a girlfriend, but he does not care and he’s gonna let her know - no no no no no NO! Ouch. "If I Can’t Have You" is a short but melodious affair which could tie in with the aforementioned track and there’s more 'No's' than you can shake a stick at, but this time the track has the added deliciousness of the Doomettes which undeniably elevates their sound. "She Wouldn’t Harm A Fly" is segued in with a voice clip from the 1960 film Psycho, which aptly sets the scene for the closing track "Is She (Dead Or Alive)?". It has that haunting "Johnny Remember Me" feel to it, furnished with Theremin from Jo-Jo A Go-Go. This is a monstrous (in the affirmative) record, and I expected no less. The Voo-Dooms are who they intrinsically are; song-makers, performers, enamoured by vintage horrors and writers of lyrics that evoke a knowing and wicked smile. One cannot deny their clearly overt (thanks again social media) influences. The overall sound pays homage to bands such as The X-Men, The Clapham South Escalators and The Sting-Rays to name but a few. Those and the thousands of musicians who recorded the most horrible hidden gems during the mid-century. My only slight disappointment was that I would have liked to have heard more of the Doomettes integrated in these six tracks. Maybe it’s time to start their own band, what do you think?
Surf Muscle "Theme from Surf Muscle" b/w "Hall of The Mountain King" (Sonido Polifonico) - Surf Muscle present their second single, a follow up to 2018’s "Revenge of The Pencil Necks" entitled "Theme from Surf Muscle" which is a quirky, mid-tempo instrumental offering from Sheffield’s, nay, Earth’s finest Surf band. This is available as a limited-edition lathe cut on clear vinyl, of which I have very generously been gifted No 13 out of 57. Lucky for me! It is always such a pleasure to receive their records because they are DIY in the truest sense. The front sleeve art conjures up cute '60s B-Movie terrors from beneath the sea, whilst the back features the band in an '80s video game. All artwork lovingly created by Guitar Muscle himself aka Oliver Allchin. "Theme From…" whisks me away to a swinging sorority beach party circa 1964. Cut to the resident band in their matching striped regalia, who carry on playing as a groaning monster staggers heavily out of the water draped in seaweed towards the bikini wearing girls, knocking over the rum laced punch and swiping at the incompetent Frat boys. Who can save the teens from this deep-sea terror? The band of course! Drum Muscle beats the monster with her sticks, Bass Muscle mesmerises him with hypnotic pulsations, and Guitar Muscle finishes him off with brain-frazzling reverb. "Hall of The Mountain King" is an instantly familiar tune and synonymous with the video game but the Muscle’s take on it is double the fun because they mix it up with another recognisable melody. Since their first release, the band have gigged around the UK and Drum Muscle, aka Katherine, also has a Garage Punk band with Missy Tassels of The Sleazoids called The Mean Girls Club, go check them out too at their Bandcamp site here. They also run a night in Sheffield called The Green Slime, a club for greasy finks and fiends serving Garage, Surf and trashy Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Fleur - "Petit Homme De Papier" b/w "La Reine Des Abeilles" (Bickerton Records) - "Petit Homme De Papier", in English "Little Man of Paper", is a very welcome follow up to Fleur’s excellent debut single of 2019 "Mon Ami Martien". It is just as sweet, sultry, swinging and seductive as it’s predecessor. Quintessentially Yé-Yé "Petit Homme De Papier" is full of sunshine and flowers, tinged only with a little sadness et voila! It’s the kind of pop perfection that could have been lifted straight from the Eurovision Song Contest circa 1966. Do check out the dreamy video for this single below which features our chanteuse and her familiar looking paper lover. Sigh, we’ve all been there. The more garage-y of the tracks "La Reine Des Abeilles" (Queen Bee) is my favourite of the two. It is buzzing with fuzz and like the life of a bee it is short but meaningful with a sharp sting if aggravated. All tracks were written, recorded, and produced authentically by Arjan Spies & Dave Von Raven (both of Les Robots) at Studio Teepdek, which may give you an idea of the quality you can expect here.
You can also hear a track from Fleur and her other band The Colour Collection in Retrosonic Podcast Episode 39. Please click on the highlighted links for infomation on the bands and how to buy the featured records. Ms Sheringham-Boom is the bassist in Edinburgh's premier purveyors of Garage Rock, Thee Girl Fridays.
Welcome to Episode 39 of Retrosonic Podcast and you can probably tell that we've been watching a lot of TV during the lockdown as there are some musical montages inspired by two of our favourite shows (the original) Star Trek and The Prisoner. So, we have tracks by The Clash, Ron Grainer, The Vapors, The Prisoners, SpizzEnergi, The Times, The Galileo 7, The Wedding Present and William Shatner, yes indeed, Captain Kirk singing The Cramps no less...seriously! Then there's a round-up of some fantastic new releases from Damaged Goods Records with the new single from The Courettes, Bickerton Records give us some superb Dutch Ye-Ye from Fleur and also The Colour Collection and then our busy friends at Spinout Nuggets have yet more great stuff out now from Paul Groovy & The Pop Art Experience and The Hurricanes. The Plastic Pals provide their cinematic new single, there's a track from the excellent debut Jetstream Pony LP and a blistering unreleased taster from the forthcoming album by Eight Rounds Rapid. My original Podcast colleague Adam is back with Sam, the singer/guitarist of his old band The Jetsonics, in a new duo called Keller Machine and there's a track from the first of three EP's by The Cult Figures. Then there's some rip-roaring Punk Rock from The Anabollic Steroids and one of Sweden's first Punk bands, GLO. I hope you enjoy this episode, if you are interested in finding out more information on the bands/artists/record labels or would like to buy any of their music, then please click on the highlighted links below to take you directly to their web-sites. Thanks to all the featured bands and you for listening, be seeing you!
Podcover Star: Flavia Couri, Photo by Martin Couri (The Courettes). Ms Debbie Sheringham-Boom from the fabulous Thee Girl Fridays has reviewed the latest Spinout Nuggets releases featured in this episode - you can check out her feature here. Retrosonic Podcast has a valid PRS Licence. You can listen/download/stream directly below or via our main Retrosonic archive on Soundcloud or subscribe for free on iTunes so you don't miss an episode!
