Nov 22, 2025
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Train Ride by The Twins & Rig Veeda (1987, Twee, Slacker Rock)
this track is from a band that had a small universe orbiting it which i cherish. Both The Twins and Rig Veeda were "bands" from Hertford in the UK; the airquotes are because both bands had Gillian Elam & Paul Rixon in them, but Rig Veeda also had 2 extra people involved. in the mid 80s they started making weird, limpwristed, fey as hell, lo-fi shambolic twee music that sounds like a bunch of people fucking around with a 4-track in a loft. everything they did was released on the "Bi-Joopiter" label, that had a real solid visual identity, these covers for example:
eventually these two projects merged to become the McTells, who continued this sound and fine-tuned it.
Villier Street by The McTells (1987, Twee, Slacker Rock)
the McTells did eventually reach K Records in america, and for sure inspired a bunch of 90s lo-fi bands in some obscure way, but by the mid 90s the band & Bi-Joopiter had all but died. hence everything relating to them now becoming very difficult to find. I'd expect them to have had a cult-classic revival by now, but the only thing that happened was Captured Tracks reissuing two McTells tapes early in CT's existence in 2011. No one's really caught on proper! But here you are.
Lush with Meriel Barham (Lush/Pale Saints), 1988
“3rd ever Lush gig, June 1988, at the Greyhound in Hammersmith. My diary entry of the night before is filled with OH GOD!!!! terror about having to sing backing vocals and predicts "Ah well, should only be about 25 minutes of unadulterated hell" Miki Berenyi (Lush)
2/3/17.
Smokescreens were born out of the ashes of Magic Bullets (that probably is too dramatic). I’ve always thought that Magic Bullets were the perfect meeting point between 1980s C86 and modern indie. Smokescreens takes that and add a lot of 1980s Flying Nun (specifically The Clean) to their sound.
Corey Cunningham seems to be the common denominator. It will not be surprising to anyone to learn that Corey is also in Terry Malts. The Bandcamp page also mentions Televison Personalities and The McTells.
This is a cassette release on Parked in Hell. I’m pretty sure this is a Corey Cunningham label since the only other release is Business of Dreams, a band which is is also a member.
From a 1986 flexi that was available with Too Much Hanky Pantry fanzine issue 2 and also distributed with The Hip Priest and Escape From Bereznik fanzines
The sound of young Hertford: The McTells
Lo! The McTells in a cellar, possibly.
Looking/sounding like the arched-back low slung rumbledethump stainless steel cutlery chucked down the stairs pOP! racketeers they indubitably was/is
The video looks like a stone tape recording of a Victorian spiritualist meeting gone absolutely sideways
The second fanzine I coughed up and out in, I think, 2010...
