Remember Fun - Train Journeys

by Tommy Gunnarsson

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

Label: Matinee Recordings
Format: CDS

There is a trend going on among the indie pop labels right now. And that is to browse through old compilations, flexidiscs or boxes of old mixtapes and try to find a band that is completely forgotten.

Review

There is a trend going on among the indie pop labels right now. And that is to browse through old compilations, flexidiscs or boxes of old mixtapes and try to find a band that is completely forgotten. So far, we have seen a few such releases on the German Firestation Tower label (The Desert Wolves etc), and also on Vinyl Japan (1000 Violins, The Siddeleys, Mighty Mighty etc). And now, US label Matinée has made their own contribution to this trend by finding some previously unreleased tapes by UK act Remember Fun, a band that released a 7" single and some compilation tracks in the late 80's. Not many remember them, and if they do, they can't really remember if they were good or not. I have only heard a song called 'Cold Inside', and it's good, but not great. So, here we have four songs from Remember Fun, all recorded in Scotland sometime during the 80's. And you don't have to be a genius to hear that. The first thing I can think of when I hear the title track is The Haywains in their calmer moments, and that's nice. It's over all a good pop song, but maybe it's lacking a really great chorus. The next song, 'Doze Off Them '(I have no idea what that title means..), is a slow one, and it never really catches my attention. The same thing can sadly be said about the next two tracks too. 'Three Cheers (When She's Dead)' sounds a bit like a slow Stone Roses song at first, but luckily enough that's not a thing that lasts for very long. At least not until the chorus kicks back in. 'Car', the fourth and last song on this EP, is a bit faster again, and suddenly it's better. But this time it doesn't sound too much like The Haywains, more like one of those millions of guitar pop bands that popped up all over the UK during the glorious 80's. It's a nice pop tune, but I think it's a bit boring after a while, and as was the case with the opening track, it could really use a great chorus. To sum it all up, I think it would be more interesting to hear their midtempo and fast songs than the two slower ones here. After all, the indie pop groups of Britain have always been best at those kinds of songs. I can't think of many good, slow indie pop songs from the British Isles. So someone should maybe collect together more of that stuff and put them all together onto a compilation album, and release them. I will probably buy a copy. Or maybe I'll wait until the next episode of 'The Sounds Of Leamington Spa.' They have been working on Volume Two for a while now, so hopefully we will see a release date this year. I will be surprised if I find Remember Fun on the tracklist.