Have a Mighty Mighty Fine Week

You can stop rubbing your eyes. There is new music from C86 vets Mighty Mighty set for release later this week, and the songs heard so far are good... really good. This is the song that really has my ear. Fits in quite nicely next to legendary Chapter 22 singles like "Maisonette," "Built Like a Car" and "Throwaway." Firestation Records has always carried a torch for the band and in 2012 even released 'The Betamax Tapes,' their "lost" second album recorded in 1988. Mighty Mighty is in good hands with their first release in more than 30 years. Pre-order 'Misheard Love Songs' on vinyl or CD right now!



In other news, just yesterday I shouted from the rooftops about the great work Optic Nerve Recordings is doing preserving indie-pop from the genre's golden age. Brace yourself. The label has announced their latest endeavor, and this one will have you light in the head.

In 1988, Fierce Recordings released a collection of five one-sided singles in a 7" cardboard box (etched on B-sides), with information insert and hand-drawn designs on the box and labels. I'm sure you know a couple of these songs from the Pooh Sticks well, such as "I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who Knows Alan McGee Quite Well" and the anthem "Indiepop Ain't Noise Pollution."

This November, Optic Nerve is bringing back the box, complete with 24-page booklet and other extras. There will be no etchings on the B-sides, however, because you get five more songs from '88, four of which are new releases. Now, I own the original 12" that collected the five A-sides, but the added bonus of these songs probably has me taking the plunge. You can pre-order now, and I suggest you do. All of those singles from the just concluded Optic Sevens series were snatched up in a heartbeat, and these undoubtedly will too.



We are all about the jangle, but we aren't always about songs from yesteryear. Check out this new two-song 7" by the pride of the West Midlands, the Proctors. Gavin and Margaret have crafted a couple of beauties that hearken to the band's early days on Sunday Records... and just in time for their appearance at Indietracks. The folks at Shelflife Records compare the B-side to the best of Bobby Wratten's Northern Picture Library. That ought to reel you in. If not, check out that lovely sleeve. Pre-order for a July 26 release.