The Fizzbombs - Blue Summer

Here's a great little tune by the Fizzbombs, a 1980s Scottish band with links to the Shop Assistants. Actually, this sort of sounds like the Shop Assistants getting together with the Jesus and Mary Chain for a bit of surf-rock. Hard to argue with that really.

Falling Joys - You're in a Mess

I don't know too much about this band. They were Australian, and released a few albums in the early '90s, only one of which (the 1990 debut, Wish List) I've ever heard. It's kind of just your basic early '90s alternative rock, nothing spectacular. But there are a few nice tracks on it. Here's one of them.

dEUS - Hotellounge

There are plenty of things to dislike about dEUS. They're arsey. They use capital letters obnoxiously. They're Belgian (ok, so maybe that's not the best reason). And they haven't put out a consistently good record in years. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised I like them at all - on paper, their blend of American-style indie rock and experimental avant-jazz/blues wouldn't appeal to me in the slightest. But on their first two proper albums, at least, the sheer quality of the songs (and their undeniable ear for the catchy pop tune underneath all the other stuff) allowed them to pull it off remarkably successfully. It's been downhill since then, though.

This is a relatively sedate one from their debut, 1994's Worst Case Scenario.

Monsoon - Ever So Lonely

Long before Bollywood infiltrated western culture there was Monsoon, a band formed in England by Sheila Chandra (a Londoner of Indian heritage) and two white boys. In an era rife with musical experimentation Monsoon really did stand out as unique, layering Indian instruments and lyrical concepts over new wave and bubbly Europop tunes. They could easily have been awful if it didn't work - but it did.

This one, from 1982, was their biggest hit. The song has aged really well, even if the video hasn't.

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.

Yeah Yeah Noh - The Time Beings

Here's another sadly forgotten '80s band. Yeah Yeah Noh were from Leicester and put out a few records in the middle of the decade which sort of blended post-punk, psychedelic and C86 type pop. Most of these were on the short-lived In Tape label, but Cherry Red kindly compiled them into a retrospective called Leicester Square: The Best of Yeah Yeah Noh which was released a couple years ago and which you should buy.

Here's one that was left off that compilation. It was a B-side to their 1985 single "Temple of Convenience", and its title would make a great band name. Somebody should steal it.

Bag-O-Shells - Markers

Bag-O-Shells were another Providence, Rhode Island outfit featuring the people who brought us Velvet Crush, the Springfields, etc. They put out two singles under that name in 1988 and 1990 on the Bus Stop label.

There are obvious similarities between Bag-O-Shells and their related bands, but to me this sounds a lot more like the kind of thing REM were doing in the early '80s than the twee sound the Springfields (and Bus Stop generally) became known for. I don't like it as much as the Springfields, or their earlier incarnation the Reverbs, but it's nice enough.