Album Review - Life's Story by Javelin Boot (1991) (Self Released under No Duh Records)

Janglepop in the late 1980's and early 1990's was a 'bag load of lad'. Bands such as R.E.M and McCarthy were busy politicizing anything that remotely upset them as they held aloft the flag for 'angry young men' on both sides of their pond. 

Similarly testosterone was injected into the natural beauty of the genre by virtue of the fact that bands such as The Smiths, Thousand Yard Stare, The Railway Children and Milltown Brothers were popping up from the UK's less affluent towns. Thus all manner of floppy haired university types could support their cause safe in the knowledge that they were now forging the illusion of being part of the 'council estate chic' that pervaded an era where it was considered 'cool' to be poor.

Readers Choice Playlist (Sept 2018)

September 2018 saw Janglepophub feature 122 tracks on our album reviews / #dailyjanglepop series on our various social media sites. These covered a vast array of janglepop nuanced tracks from the 980/00/10's.

The Top 20 (see below) is decided purely by the 7 day engagement rates of the janglepophub readership on our various social media sites including blog link clicks.

Album Review: Vauxhall and I by Morrissey (1994) (Parlophone)

Without doubt this was the most personal album that Morrissey had released since the debut album by 'The Smiths' over 10 years earlier gave clues about the shaping of his sexuality as an adolescent.

Readers Choice Playlist (August 2018)

August 2018 saw Janglepophub feature 149 tracks on our album reviews / #dailyjanglepop series on our various social media sites. These covered a vast array of janglepop nuanced tracks from the 1960's - 2018.

The Top 20 (see below) is decided purely by the 7 day engagement rates of the janglepophub readership on our various social media sites including blog link clicks.

Album Review: Slinky by Milltown Brothers (1990) (Label: A&M Records)

For some inexplicable reason this album never bothered the critical acclaim radar, let alone slipped under it. 

In fact the wordsmiths who invent terms like ‘critical acclaim radar’ would be delighted that they could use another tabular inventions (the word ‘blip’) to ensure that those inclined could say Slinky never even registered a ‘blip’ on the ‘critical acclaim radar’, thus showing their parents that their accusatory sighs about a wasted university education could finally be silenced. 

So apart from me who did the album bother? Who was it that convinced the brothers Nelson to pitch up eleven years after their last effort and make another album (2004's Rubberband).

Fake Compilations Series - Teenage Fanclub...Have Got The 90's Covered

Certain bands / artists inspire certain contrived imaginations within the increasingly narrow recesses of my mind. 

For instance I cannot help imagining Bono in a domestic scene which involves him sitting on a makeshift throne (with his sunglasses on) nonchalantly explaining to the recently resurrected Jesus (who is busy washing his new Lord's feet), that he is the love child of a tryst between Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa, as he simultaneously sacks his groundsman for not being able to train a dead badger to bow to him.

Reader Choice Playlist (July 2018)

July 2018 saw Janglepophub feature 151 tracks on our album reviews / #dailyjanglepop series on our various social media sites. These covered a vast array of janglepop nuanced tracks from the 1960's - 2018.

The top 20 (see below) is decided purely by the 7 day engagement rates of the janglepophub readership on our Facebook, and Twitter sites and on the blog links clicks (highest to lowest). 

Album Review: Eleven Pop Songs by Happydeadmen (1990) (Ceilidh Productions)

The Happydeadmen were the pioneers of Swedish indie/jangle-pop and without doubt cleared a pathway across Scandinavia for the jangled sensibilities of the likes of the Acid House Kings, The Cardigans, Kings of Convenience and even in latter years the likes of Northern Portrait.

Readers Choice Playlist (June 2018)

June 2018 saw Janglepophub feature 106 tracks on our album reviews / #dailyjanglepop on our various social media sites. These covered a vast array of janglepop nuanced tracks from the 1960's - 2018.

The top 20 (see below) is decided purely by the 7 day engagement rates of the janglepophub readership on our Facebook, and Twitter sites and on the blog links clicks (highest to lowest).

Readers Choice Playlist (May 2018)

mAY 2018 saw Janglepophub feature 121 tracks on our album reviews / #dailyjanglepop on our various social media sites. These covered a vast array of janglepop nuanced tracks from the 1960's - 2018.

The top 20 (see below) is decided purely by the 7 day engagement rates of the janglepophub readership on our Facebook, and Twitter sites and on the blog links clicks (highest to lowest).

Album Review: Hands On by Thousand Yard Stare (1992) (Polydor)

Despite being superb live and releasing a handful of brilliant early 90's EP's (1990's Weatherwatching debut being the pick of an impressive early career), Thousand Yard Stare never really achieved the accolades they deserved due to what can only be considered as reverse snobbery.

Album Review - Out of Time by R.E.M (1991) (Warner Bros)

Out of Time was the most commercially successful of all the R.E.M albums, despite being the one phase one album (i.e. their best years prior to the Up album in 1998) that certain music journalists, whose reviews include in depth analysis of guitar tabs and ‘time signatures’ (whatever they may be?), denigrated with the sort of frenzied passion usually only reserved for other multi-million sellers such as Aqua’s Barbie Girl or the Crazy Frog tune.

Readers Choice Playlists (April 2018)

April 2018 saw Janglepophub feature 133 tracks on our album reviews / #dailyjanglepop features on our various social media sites. These covered a vast array of janglepop nuanced tracks from the 1960's - 2018.

The top 20 is decided purely by the 7 day engagement rates of the janglepophub readership on our Facebook, and Twitter sites and on the blog links clicks (highest to lowest).

Album Review - Cake by Trashcan Sinatras (1990) (Go Discs!)

'Stuff' is unavoidable. Fair enough you can enjoy stuff, but most of the time the very essence of stuff is that it tends to get in the way. For 'stuff' is the term in life for 'those' events that, from a retrospective perspective, have prevented you from doing or achieving the things in life you should have done. Ultimately 'stuff' differs form mere 'excuses' due to the authenticity of the effect it has on the course of your life.

Compilation Review: London Weekend - Another Sunny Day (1992)

On Friday nights I like to drink beer with my mates in our pub. Amid the debates about sport and the usual old jokes / stories that we have all heard a 1000 times but still find ridiculously funny (as only inebriated men can) we sometimes address things that genuinely matter, that are genuinely important, to such an extent that it is not beyond the wildest stretches of the imagination to presume that President Trump and that Russian fella who got him the gig, probably talk about similar things.

One such such topic that my beer addled friends and I discussed, that I am convinced would have been addressed by the Donald and Mr Putin over a beer when less important matters of state had been addressed for the evening is 'What Sarah Records band is most typical of the whole Sarah Records aesthetic'.

Now Donald may well have flicked his poerfectly lacquered hair off his orange brow and placed a temporary cessation on his favourite hobby of cursing Mexican chaps, in order to argue the point that Brighter were 'the' Sarah Records band. Which would obviously cause Mr P to stop the training preparation for his World Cup hooligan squad and counter with Blueboy, thus risking immediate nuclear reaction or at least a 'your fired' from 'The Don'.

Luckily for us, despite the dutch courage emanating from several weak lagers, my friends and I were eventually able to reach consensus that Another Sunny Day were probably the most 'Sarah type band' of all the Sarah Records bands. The initial reason for this is that ASD were effectively a Harvey Williams side project of whose most prominent successes at the time were emanating from another Sarah band in The Field Mice, which incidentally, is rumoured to be Theresa May's (British PM) choice of  music which she takes a rare moment off from avoiding the implementation of Brexit.

This 'side project' ethos just seems to fit in with the Sarah ethic, who always seemed to have started things offs to foster a love of a certain kind of music and then seemed almost surprised when it took off and desperately tried to keep it as informal as possible. This they did with their 'other' bands like ASD inasmuch that they grew the stock of the band without ever releasing an album or a proper EP.  For ASD it was just a bunch of 'jewell in the crown' singles, lovingly released of vinyl. Sarah were effectively the ultimate singles label and ASD were, in our opinion, their ultimate singles band as can be seen on this brilliant compilation which includes all of the Sarah output.

Rio

As such this compilation is totally filler free and symbolizes the 'quality not quantity ethos' of the label with tracks such as The Smiths William it Was Really Nothing inflected You Should All Be Murdered, the twee-festivals of I'm in Love With a Girl Who Doesn't I Exist and Rio (see above). and the jangling beauty of Can't You Tell it's True (see below) and Things Will Be Nice, being the torch bearers for a compilation that is an essential purchase for any Twee / jangle / indie pop fans.

                                                           Can't You Tell it's True

Another Sunny Day may not have received the plaudits that Trump, Putin and May's 'Sarah band' favourites did...but if me and my pub mates were running the world, they would!

Artist Links

twee.net, 
Wikipedia

Label Links



home.clara.net
sarahrecords.org.uk
Twitter
Wikipedia

Readers Choice Playlist (March 2018)

March 2018 saw Janglepophub feature 173 tracks on our album reviews / #dailyjanglepop features on our various social media sites. These covered a vast array of janglepop nuanced tracks from the 1960's - 2018.

The top 20 is decided purely by the 7 day engagement rates of the janglepophub readership on our Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and on the blog links (highest to lowest).

Compilation Review - Stardust by The Sea Urchins (1992) (Sarah Records)

Janglepophub have featured The Sea Urchins three times in its #DailyJanglePop series' that are undertaken on our various social media platforms. Considering the fact that this band never actually released a full length album it is amazing to see our followers falling over themselves to 'like', re-tweet,  re-blog and all other manner of things that express cyber appreciation for this band. In fact apart from the 'likes' afforded to old favourites such as R.E.M and The Housemartins, my google-nerd statistics furnish me with the indisputable fact that this band are third in the 'love in' stakes.

Album Review - H.M.S, Fable by Shack (1999) (London Records)

Grange Hill was a UK kids TV show in the 70/80/90's about life in an inner London school. It was a massive hit among the youth who lapped up the twice weekly tales of characters such as 'Gripper Stebson' (school bully), Benny (school football star), Tucker (the charmer) Roly (fat kid) and the likes of Paula Yates and Caffy (Cathy) and their variety of love trysts.

Readers Choice Playlist (February 2018)

February 2018 saw janglepophub feature 129 tracks on our album reviews / #dailyjanglepop features on our various social media sites. These covered a vast array of janglepop nuanced tracks from the 1960's - 2018, including releases from unsigned acts that are denoted in yellow.

The top 20 is decided purely by the 7 day engagement rates of the janglepophub readership on our Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and on the blog links (highest to lowest).

Album Review - The Greatest Living Englishman by Martin Newell (1993) (Humbug)

I started this blog on the 2nd of December 2017. I have been lucky enough to get a surprising number of regular followers, some of whom might recall that I am something of a 'fanboy' of Martin Newell, both in his solo capacity and his The Cleaners From Venus output. So forgive me another Newell indulgence !