Beach Fossils - Fall Right In

An almost unspeakably gorgeous track from Brooklyn's Beach Fossils, off their 2011 EP What a Pleasure. Reminds me a bit of the Orchids.

The Marnies - Electric Wires

Yet another band I would never have heard of without the wonderful Wilfully Obscure, these were an Australian quartet who seem to have nothing to their name but this lone 7", from 1989. Pity, because it's quite a catchy little tune, with obvious Church influences in the guitars but also clearly drawing a bit from the C86 crowd. Whatever became of them?

The Clash - Safe European Home

One of the more controversial Clash songs, due to the...erm...unfortunate ambiguity of Joe Strummer's intentions in writing it. Just try to ignore that (I do), because it is, really, a tremendous track in every other respect.

From 1978.

Postcode - It's Amazing It's Fantastic

To make up for the sugary sweetness of yesterday's entry, here's something a little... different. Postcode are from the Isle of Man and are obsessed with zebras - well, you would be, wouldn't you? - and they also seem to really like the early Pixies a lot. Some of their stuff is pretty good.

This is from a 2010 EP, Zebracore Revisited (told you).

The Assembly - Never Never

The cheesy '80s new wave synth-pop ballad isn't always my thing, but Vince Clarke did it better than most and Feargal Sharkey's voice really is the perfect mix of whiney and vulnerable for this song. A love-or-hate one, probably.

From 1983.

Dot Dash - There and Back Again Lane

Dot Dash are sort of a Washington DC supergroup, although their pedigree probably doesn't mean much to people from outside the area. Truth be told, I lived in DC for a few years and I never heard of some of the bands these guys were in. But I'm sure they were great.

They're named for a Wire song, but it's definitely the pop more than the post-punk side of Wire they draw from. Which is fine by me.

Morton Valence - Sailors

Great piece of electro-pop from this London band, released about five years ago. A re-recorded but very similar version appears on their latest (second) album, Me and Home James, from last year.