When I first got into the true indie scene there was lots of a certain kind of pop around, but this died out after a few years. More recently I notice there's been quite a resurgence of old-style indie pop, and Dreamy Records is one label that specialises in it. The first release is a 7" by Arco, Longsighted. This has three tracks of predominantly acoustic music that's mellow and melancholic and is a sort of mixture of The Field Mice/Brighter/Low/Frank Peck. The second release was also by Arco, this time a CD called Ending Up EP, which has four more laid-back tracks which are gloomy in the best sense of the word. It's not a thousand miles away from the debut, due to its melancholic atmosphere, but there's a slight folky tinge to a couple of these tracks, which was less evident on the first single. As a result, it sounds less like the aforementioned bands. Arco have come up with some of the saddest songs I've heard since the early 90s.

Next was an album, The Autumn Leaves' Treats And Treasures. This is actually on US label Grimsey Records, but Dreamy are making it available in the UK. This band's brand of pop is very 60s-ish, with strong melodies, vocal harmonies, jangly guitars and occasional hints of psychedelia and folk. All good stuff but the absolute stand-out track is the mega-jangle-fest that is Magic Red Raincoat - what a song!

Ninian Hawick's Steep Steps album is a joint release between Dreamy and Grimsey. Includes the excellent fuzz-pop-with-bagpipes Scottish Rite Temple Stomp (which appeared earlier on Grimsey as a split single with The Shebrews) alongside some electronic weirdness, post-rock type stuff and a fairly jazzy piano instrumental. A pretty varied album.

Next was a compilation, Head In The Clouds, which brings together various kinds of pop, from strange to melancholic, and briefly ventures into a more easy listening sort of thing with tracks like The Minch by Ninian Hawick. Also appearing are Kirk Lake (two solo tracks - one sung and the other spoken - and another song with Jacques), Jamie Owen, Santa Sprees, Graham, Izumi Mizawa, Arco, Ninotchka, The Autumn Leaves, Chris Starling, Fariña and White Hotel.

A return to the 7" format for the most recent Dreamy release - Popwish EP by Graham. This includes two versions of a song called I Buy My Fizz At The Pop Shop - a title I'd have cringed at a few years ago when I was getting a bit sick of twee pop, but I find twee things in general a lot less embarrassing these days. This song is actually not as sickly as the name suggests - it's a really good, catchy song. The other songs are It's Gonna Be Summertime Real Soon, which reminds me quite a lot of Nick Drake, and the melancholy indie pop of I Wish.

For more info on Dreamy Records, write to Tracy, 6 Kenilworth Road, London W5 3UH.

BACK TO ARCHIVE