Marine Research - John Peel 18.05.99

by Tommy Gunnarsson

published: 31 / 7 / 2022

Label: Select Label
Format: 7" X2

Post-Heavenly/Talulah Gosh band Marine Research's only recorded session for John Peel gloriously presented as a stunning two-single package

Review

In the mid-1980s, Talulah Gosh, and the later incarnation Heavenly, was the talk of the town when it came to the UK indie scene. Most of their singles and albums are regarded as classics these days, including Heavenly’s releases on the iconic Sarah Records. Then suddenly everything fell apart when drummer Mathew Fletcher (singer Amelia Fletcher’s brother) commited suicide in the mid-90s, and after considering their options as Heavenly, they decided to form a new band with the remaining members (plus new drummer John Stanley, aka DJ Downfall) – enter Marine Research! The first release was a 7” single called ‘Queen B’ in 1998, which was followed by an EP (‘Parallel Horizontal’) and an album (‘Songs from the Gulf Stream’) in 1999. Later that year, the band split up, and went into different musical directions (Fletcher formed Tender Trap with Rob Pursey and Stanley from Marine Research). But they also found the time to record a session for John Peel, and these four songs are now finally getting an official release, thanks to the lovely label Precious Recordings of London. The four songs the band performed during the radio session was “’ Confess’, ‘Angel in the Snow’, ‘Bad Dreams’ and ‘Capital L’. The first two songs were previously released on the aforementioned ‘Parallel Horizontal’ EP, and the latter two are previously unreleased. On ‘Bad Dreams’, the band was also joined by Wedding Present vocalist/main man David Gedge (Weddoes recorded several songs with Fletcher on joint lead vocals in their early days as well). Oh, and ‘Capital L’ would later resurface on Tender Trap’s third album, ‘Dansette, Dansette’, in 2010. This is high quality jangly indiepop, to put it straight. But that’s also what we have come to expect when names like Fletcher and Pursey are printed on the sleeve, no matter what they might call themselves at the time. And if we’re spending this last paragraph on the release itself, I must commend Precious Recordings on their work – this double 7” single looks stunning, and you’re getting value for your money as well. The two singles comes in a gatefold sleeve, with liner notes from Amelia on the inside, and it also features four postcards (with promo shots of the band and a gig flyer). They have released a bunch of Peel Sessions singles for various bands during this past year or so, and they are all highly recommended!