Pennyblackmusic Presents: Johny Brown (Band of Holy Joy) - With Hector Gannet and Andy Thompson @The Water Rats, London, Saturday 25, May, 2024
Reviews
Amber Smith (2001)
There Is No Way
Amber Smith's debut EP was recorded in Budapest between February and August of last year and consists of four songs.The songwriter is one Imre Poniklo, who with his three co-partners, has produced a
Ambitious Beggars (2003)
Parallel Universe EP
Easy-going, enjoyable indiepop on first release in many years from much-loved Manchester-based Brit pop act, Ambitious Beggars
Arvidson (2002)
Arvidson
Competent, but bland Teenage Fanclub influenced album on the Firestation Tower label from elusive group from Gothenburg.
Avocadoclub (2003)
Too Much Space To Walk Away
Competent, but not very well focused second EP from popular German group, Avacado Club whose first EP was a dance floor smash
Goldstoned (2001)
Tonight Let's All Get Goldstoned
Goldstoned inhabit a world of wide screen cinema, in full Technicolor and glorious stereo sound, when air travel was decadent and the word "kitsch" had little relevance. Weaving a path that's somehow
Groovy Cellar (2002)
Happiness Lies Ahead
"Inoffensive...but also totally unnecessary" slab of indie pop, with Smiths and Wedding Present influences, from German group, the Groovy Cellar
Hey Paulette (2006)
Long Ball into Nowhere
Appealing collection of old singles, Peel session tracks and live recordings from long lost Dublin-based C86 group Hey Paulette
Honest Johns (2005)
Meteor
Compilation of music recorded from 1986 to 1990 from recently reformed obscure Newcastle-based indie pop band the Honest Johns
Johnny Says Yeah! (2005)
Friends Gone By 1986 - 1989
Retrospective CD released by Berlin's Firestation label of long lost, but gifted C86 act Johnny Says Yeah !
Lato (2002)
More Art Than Convenience
Solid Brit-rock from ironically German-based group, which features first-rate cover of the Style Council's 'It Just Came to Pieces in My Hands'
Nice Man And The Bad Boys (2006)
The Art Of Hanging Out
Long delayed, but irrestible collection of winsome and reflective pop on second album from Nice Man and the Bad Boys, the latest project of Francis MacDonald, former BMX Bandit and sometime Teenage Fan Club drummer
Phony (2003)
First Love
Familiar -sounding , but eclectic indiepop on debut full length album from Berlin-based band, Phony
Phony (2001)
Good Times. Silent Place EP
My attention was drawn to Phony because their drummer is in Le Hammond Inferno. Do not, however, be fooled by this – Phony are not in the least bit like Le Hammond Inferno. They have their own idenit
Roettger and Goldstein (2001)
Eine Kleine Stadtmusik
Knud-Philip Roettger and Patrick Goldstein normally front Caroline Now! and Goldstoned. They’ve pooled their popcraft into an album that harkens back to the eighties.
They wear their influences o
Sealevel (2005)
Beach From Last Summer
Debut album from new Berlin-based jangly indiepop band the Sealevel, who have formed out of the ashes of the critically acclaimed the Seaside Stars
Seaside Stars (2001)
The Magic of Stereo
Teenage Fanclub is a band that I have been watching with great interest for the past five years or so. They have gone from making an almost unbearable noise on their 1990 debut effort 'A Catholic Edu
Skint and Demoralised (2011)
Love, and Other Catastrophes
Classic indie pop recorded with soul giants the Dap Kings on delayed debut album from Yorkshire-based band Skint & Demoralised, which has just been released in a vinyl edition on German labels, Firestation and Destination Pop
Spanish Amanda (2001)
Brave New Girl
I'm sure that many of the visitors to Pennyblackmusic would have been tempted by the raving write up that this album received on the site when it was released at the end of last year. I bought it, and
Steve O'Donoghue (2004)
Martha
Promising and pleasant-on-the-ear acoustic rock on debut solo album by new British singer-songwriter, Steve O'Donoghue
The 05 (2002)
Pretty Nonsense
Eclectic debut album, which runs through a range of styles from punk to synthesiser pop to ska, from the German label Firestation Tower's latest signings
The Morrisons (2005)
Songs From The South Of England
Appealing compilation on Germany's Firestation label of songs from long lost 80's UK jangly pop band, the Morrisons
Various (2005)
The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume 4
Fourth compilation in the the excellent 'Sound of Leamington Spa' series, which compiles together increasingly obscure English indiepop acts of the 80's and 90's
Various (2002)
The Sound Of Leamington Spa Vol 2
"Fantastic" collection of obscure and previously unsung British indiepop from the golden age of the eighties
Various (2001)
I Tried A Thousand Times A Thousand Times
In a previous issue of the Pennyblackmusic Magazine, I interviewed the people behind this German pop label, and they, among other things, said that they would try to release more dancey stuff in the
Various (2001)
What You Hear Today, You'll Be Singing Tomorrow
This conservative indie pop compilation was originally released way back in 1997 in the death throes of Britpop when people still strutted around with a certain amount of pride in their gazelle traine
Various (2003)
Sound of Leamington Spa (Vol 3)
Third in the much acclaimed 'The Sound of Leamington Spa' series from German label Firestation Tower, which showcases forgotten and obscure British indiepop bands of the 1980's
Various (2003)
These Are The Songs We Always Wanted to Hear
Essential indiepop "summer listening" on latest compilation from the German label, Firestation Tower Records
Profiles
Interview with Uwe Weigmann (2004)
Firestation Records is one of Germanys best indiepop labels. Co-founder Uwe Weigmann talks to Dixie Ernill in Berlin about its first five years.
Interview (2002)
Last year they blessed us with the fantastic re-release of The Desert Wolves complete recordings on the CD 'Pontification' . And is if that wasn't enough, they also released the excellent compilation 'The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume One', that featured