East River Pipe - Make a Deal With the City

A lovely song from 1993's Goodbye California, from a band I'm not normally that enthusiastic about. (They were actually a project of Fred Cornog rather than a proper band, but let's not split hairs.) ERP started off on Sarah and ended up on Merge - a label which, in the 1990s, I always associated with a distinctly US South aesthetic - and I don't think it was so much a change in musical direction as a case of them finally reaching their natural home. You can hear a lot of that sort of Mitch Eastery '60s-influenced pop even in their early material, though with considerably less slick production.

Anyway, whatever about the rest of their music, this is a gorgeous track in its own right.

Heavenly - Cool Guitar Boy

Heard this recently for the first time in years and it brought back such memories. I can clearly remember how excited I was when I got my copy of Heavenly vs Satan, put it on for the first time and heard this coming out of my speakers. Talulah Gosh were back! Well, sort of. The whole album didn't live up to their standards, but this, the opening track (along with a good few others) was everything I'd been waiting for. Bliss.

As a 21-year-old indiepop grrrl, I also remember simultaneously laughing ironically at the lyrics, and secretly identifying with them. Though I'd never have admitted the latter.

From 1991.

The Harvest Ministers - You Do My World The World Of Good

Surprised I haven't posted these yet. An Irish band on Sarah? They ought to be all over this blog. *hangs head in shame*

The Harvest Ministers have been around forever (well, since 1987) but don't have a huge discography to show for it: their fifth album was released only last year. They tend to be thought of as sort of a Will Merriman project rather than a proper band, though that's a bit unfair to Padraig McCaul, multi-instrumentalist, who I think has been a Harvest Minister for the duration. And who's a brilliant landscape painter in his own right, btw.

This was their first single, from 1992.

The Hit Parade - In Gunnersbury Park

One of about a billion singles released by this London band. This one, from 1991, was on Sarah, though you'd probably guess that within the first ten seconds even if I hadn't told you.

Secret Shine - After Years

In their early years, before they went all shoegazey on us, Secret Shine were that rare Sarah band that sometimes dipped into "too twee even for me" territory. Listen to the song "Secret Shine" (on the Ephemeral 7") if you don't believe me.

Most of the time, though, they walked the fine line without quite stepping over it - and made some lovely music as a result. This was their first single on Sarah, from 1991.

The Field Mice - So Said Kay

I haven't posted anything from Sarah in a while, so here's a classic from that label. I'm not as big a Field Mice fan as some and generally prefer their more upbeat stuff, but this is genuinely a beautiful track which more than deserves all its accolades. Also, in a list of Saddest Songs Ever, it would be right up there (or should that be "down there"?) with the Durutti Column song I posted last week. Hmm, maybe my choice of tunes lately is trying to tell me something.

Anyway, it's from a 10" released in 1990.

The Sea Urchins - Please Rain Fall

I must be mad posting this on the first sunny day we've had in Dublin for a while, but I'm just in that sort of mood. Not for rain, but for a Big Epic Song like this one. The Sea Urchins were always really good at this sort of thing, even if their singer really didn't have a note in his head.

I'm escaping this country for the bank holiday weekend, so see you back on Tuesday.

The Sweetest Ache - Briaris

The Sweetest Ache were one of Sarah's underachievers: the quality of their output never really matched the quantity, and too many of their songs sounded like minor album tracks, even the A-sides. Basically I think they just didn't really have the songwriting skills to cut it. Which is a shame, because I always wanted to like them more.

So how they managed to come up with this astonishing thing of beauty is a bit of a mystery. It's not just the female vocals, although they would improve anything in the band's catalogue; the song itself sounds like nothing else they ever recorded. In fact, it sounds like almost nothing else in the world.

Simply gorgeous.

It's from their 1991 debut album Jaguar.

The Rosaries - Anything

Here's a lovely little tune from a lovely little twee girlpop band from Coventry. As far as I know this 7" called Forever, a 1992 Sarah single, was their only proper release.

Eternal - Breathe

I think I've pretty much covered all the great Sarah bands at this point, so here's one of the minor ones. Eternal stood a bit apart from most of their labelmates by tending more towards shoegaze than twee - their guitarist actually went on to play in Slowdive. Like Slowdive, they were a little too background-musicky for me to get really excited about.

As far as I can tell they only put out the one three-song 7", of which this was the highlight. It has a bit of a Bowie "Heroes" thing going, I think. No doubt unintentional.

The Orchids - Peaches

One of the more dance-oriented tracks from the Orchids' 1991 album Unholy Soul. I generally prefer their tweer stuff, but this is a real foot-tapper.

The Orchids - Tropical Fishbowl

A very simple and lovely one from the 1990 Penetration EP. Isn't it amazing how much a song can say in only two lines?

The Forever People - Sometimes

Yet another incarnation of the Razorcuts, this was from a 7" released in 1992 on Sarah, which was only fitting given that the Razorcuts were such a massive inspiration for most of Sarah's bands. Pity they couldn't have written better songs for the occasion, though. This was the b-side, and the better of the two, but still pretty mediocre compared to their previous works.

Brighter - Ocean Sky

Brighter, from Brighton, were very much a Sarah band - the kind that, if you didn't like Sarah in general, were unlikely to change your mind. They put out a number of 7"s and EPs in the late 1980s and early 1990s that are very difficult to find now but were reissued by Matinée on compilation CDs in the last decade. Definitely worthwhile for Sarah fans, maybe not so much for others!

This is a track from their 1991 EP Laurel.

The Orchids - Underneath the Window, Underneath the Sink

Here's a lovely early Orchids track - their second single, from 1988 - and a rare Sarah video. So delicately beautiful, even with the crappy sound.

The Field Mice - Sensitive

Here's a distinctly non-twee (well, except maybe for the lyrics) song from a band who I always thought were at their best when they weren't being twee. It's a cracking tune, actually, one that even your non-twee-loving friends might admit to enjoying. Especially if you don't let on to them that it was on Sarah.

Even As We Speak - One Step Forward

This is an absolute classic of a Sarah single, and it's not terribly Sarahesque, I don't think. Which is to say there's nothing really twee about it - it's just a great pop song, one that would fit comfortably on any "alternative music" playlist (or whatever it is they're calling it these days). Plus, the first two lines of its chorus set off my snappy-couplet-o-meter every time.

That most unSarahesque of Sarah bands, Boyracer, did a decent cover of this on a split 7" with the Ropers.

Gentle Despite - The Darkest Blue

Another Sarah band that I know very little about, except they were apparently from Leeds and they put out two utterly lovely 7"s of soft and somewhat depressing (actually I think the proper word is "melancholy") indiepop. Gorgeous, but maybe not recommended if you're in a dark mood.

Heavenly - Lemonhead Boy

There are some things in life you anticipate so eagerly that the moment they finally transpire is etched into your brain forever. For me, Heavenly's debut album was one of those things - I can remember as clear as a bell when this landed on my desk (God, I miss that job) and my whoop of excitement the instant I realised what it was.

It would have been one of the all-time letdowns of my life if it had failed to live up to the standards they had set as Talullah Gosh but, fortunately, it didn't. There are twee pleasures galore on Heavenly vs Satan (also one of my favourite album titles ever, as it happens) and I really could have posted just about any of its tracks. But this is the one that just edges it for me. Three and a half minutes of pure and utter indiepop perfection...what more could you want?

Another Sunny Day - Green

Another Sunny Day were one of those bands that you'd probably never like if you weren't generally a Sarah fan. Truth be told, with song titles like "I'm In Love With A Girl Who Doesn't Know I Exist", they lent themselves pretty easily to mockery by the anti-Sarah brigade. Which of course means I think they were great.

This track originally appeared on the "You Should All Be Murdered" 7", and I always thought it was better than the A-side. Although maybe with a less attention-grabbing title.