Berlin-based label Firestation Tower releases lots of great indiepop, both old-style and more modern, as well as some more poppy, not strictly indiepop, songs. I remember reading about Blochin 81 in German fanzines in the 90s; they are now called Lato and have a 7" out on Firestation Tower. The lead track is a cover of The Style Council's It Just Came To Pieces In My Hands; their version is reminiscent of The Beautiful South, who they've been compared to before, and also of The Lightning Seeds. The B-side is one of their own songs, Rack Up A Replay, which is also on the more commercial side of guitar-pop.

Kosmonaut are a two-piece band consisting of Stephen Maughan (formerly of Bulldozer Crash) and Geoff Suggett (his name rings a bell but I forget which band he was in before). They have a 2 song 7" out on Firestation Tower. Days of Our Lives is early 90s-ish noisepop with an occasional spacey touch as implied by the band's name. She Walks Away is great catchy old-school indiepop that equals the best of Bulldozer Crash.

Phony, based in Berlin, have a 4 song CDEP, Good Times. The title track is upbeat guitar/keyboard pop with mass appeal. Silent Place sounds like a totally different band - jazzy, bossa-ish pop with a female vocalist. Long Away is in the style of popular indie bands, with a hint of 60s pop. Finally there's a Capsule remix of Silent Place which combines the bossa-pop of the original with extra percussion and electronic bits.

I have two CDEPs by Avocadoclub, also based in Berlin. The first of these is Girls Use Deodorant These Days, a mixture of 60s sunshine pop, jazz and funk. Also on this EP is The Dirty Sheet Complacency - a brill indiepop song; Kate - a piano and violin based song that's quite dark but also somehow reminiscent of vaudeville songs, then completely unpredictably, a grungey guitar comes in; and Nougotowa Crush - part of this song is melancholic indiepop, also with violin, and part of it is laid-back 70s rock. The next EP includes Too Much Space To Walk Away (another excellent, addictive indiepop song), All Of Your Gum (an engaging and unusual combination of noisy guitars, 80s synthpop and a hint of spacerock), The Sidewalk of Days (trumpet-driven pop) and Saturday Karma (laid-back pop). As these descriptions show, Avocadoclub can play any style of music they want and still sound great. Really excellent stuff, I hope to hear more from this band!

The O5 have a CD album out on Firestation Tower, called Pretty Nonsense. This is an energetic mixture of powerpop, mod, synthpop, indiepop, noisepop, indierock, 60s pop and rock n' roll and is well worth checking out. As well as 11 of their own songs, this CD features Lovebells, a cover of a German soul song, originally called A Glockn, here sung in English. I don't know the original but this version sounds like a cross between 60s pop, synthpop and noisepop, rather than soul.

I also have three compilation albums from Firestation Tower, the first is I Tried A Thousand Times, A Thousand Times To Change Your Mind, which includes 20 tracks. Sensation is the current band of Johnny Male, St Etienne/Republica songwriter, and as you may expect, they play very poppy synth based music. The rest of the compilation is much more indiepoppy than this track. There's lots of old-school indiepop of various types on here, from trumpet-driven to jangly to fuzzy, from Novillero, Vermont Sugar House (ex-Desert Wolves), Fever Hut (ex-Passmore Sisters), Kristallin & Michele Bernard, Amber Smith, Little Band What Now?, Tompaulin, Celest, My Coffee Moment, Salteens, The Spanish Amanda, Liberty Ship (includes Marc Elston, ex-Bulldozer Crash) and The Glidshees. The excellent Too Much Space To Walk Away from Avocadoclub is also included here. Also appearing are Holm, who play synthpop, but less mainstreamish than Sensation as they combine the electronics with an 80s indiepop influence. Pets mix indiepop with 50s easy listening. Canossa do indiepop with a retro-futuristic synth sound. Cecilia Ann are trumpet-based indiepop, possibly influenced by 60s sunshine pop. Hidalgo make a kind of guitar/synth pop that's quite off-centre but also able to appeal to a wide audience.

These Are The Songs We Always Wanted To Hear has similar artwork to the previous compilation, only it's in a jewel case rather than a digipak. Lots more great indiepop here - the brilliant summery pop of Carrots; a Teenage Fanclub/Velvet Crush sounding track from Seaside Stars; superb indiepop with 60s folk elements from Greg Murray; upbeat indiepop from Graeme Elston's current band Slipslide; 80s-ish indiepop from The Cherry Orchard (their track is a Go-Betweens cover); more 80s-ish indiepop from The Blue Chairs; melancholic, but not twee, indie music from Stagger Lee, who are definitely not the blues band their name suggests; old style jangly pop from Jackethive; sophisticated melancholic indie music with atmospheric touches from Belasco; summery, cute pop with an additional country twang from Call & Response; more old-school jangle from Johnny Johnny (formerly Johnny Dee) and floaty, light pop from Ephemera. There's also electropop from Lifestyle, Olympic Lifts and Geffen, mod/powerpop from The O5, 60s-ish pop meets indiepop from Phony, pop with a bossa/60s easy listening feel from Goldstoned, and indie meets alt-country from Alex Lowe (ex-Hurricane #1).

I raved about The Sound Of Leamington Spa back in one of the paper issues of Aquamarine. This was a joint venture between Firestation Tower, Bilberry Records and Tweenet, and consisted of songs by 80s indiepop bands, mostly obscure ones who only ever turned up on flexis and one-off 7"s, plus a few better known bands like The Pooh Sticks, The Siddeleys and The Man From Delmonte. These three labels have got together again to release volume 2 (although Tweenet have now set up an actual label, Clarendon Records, so this is released under that name rather then Tweenet). This volume continues where the last one left off, and shouldn't disappoint fans of volume 1. Tons of brill, typically 80s, mostly jangly, indiepop - bands are Friends, Bob Hope, Newsflash, The Sandalwoods, Said Liquidator, Reserve, Benny Profane, Dubious Brothers, Phil Wilson, Splendid Fellows, The Big Gun, The Honest Johns, Fat & Frantic, Fallover 24, The Passmore Sisters, Love Parade and Ambitious Beggars. The Groove Farm provide a noisier track, but it's still melodic and very much indiepop. Also included are Harbour Bar, an early 80s easy listening inspired pop band whose bassist later joined Microdisney. The sleeve notes describe them as 'an easy listening revival before its time' - how true. A few years ago this sort of music was sneered at by many indie kids, but now they embrace it.

Firestation Tower is a highly recommended label for indiepop fans; their Leamington Spa compilations are a great introduction to 80s indiepop, and the other compilations are well worth checking out for an introduction to current indiepop inspired by the 80s. Contact them at info@firestation-tower-records.de

BACK TO AQUAMARINE