THE ACTION SUITS: Fun Flies (7″, Wiiija WIJ52, 1996)

I picked this record up from HMV shortly after its release date. Yes, HMV. There was, dear reader, once a time when HMV stocked not only vast swathes of vinyl, but in some stores, a whole load of interesting and obscure vinyl. I seem to remember that before they moved en masse to a centrally-distributed (and therefore, more financially efficient) stock base, each store left the success and stock choice of its singles department to somebody from that store’s staff. Normally, I think, this was whoever showed the most enthusiasm for such a task.

Whoever was running Reading HMV’s singles department at the time certainly seemed very enthusiastic. I would often visit the store precisely to dig through and select new and interesting independent releases. The store also regularly (and ingeniously) bundled up not-yet-sold 7″s into ‘buy this bundle of singles for two quid’ mystery packs: three singles encased in an opaque wrapper of HMV bags and sellotape. One of these mystery packs yielded this single along with, as far as I remember, an Acetone and a Movietone single. A pretty good success rate, there.

The Action Suits are interesting as they feature Peter Bagge on drums. Peter who? Why, Peter Bagge, the guy behind the legendarily misanthropic and brilliant comic book series Hate (and much more besides). Hate was the painfully-realistic retelling of life as a plaid-shirted slacker, finding his way through relationships, music and life. If you’re not yet aware of it, I urge you to get some Hate in your life.

I can’t remember when I last visited an HMV, but I know that it certainly wasn’t the richly rewarding experience of ‘the good old days’. Sometimes I really do wonder about the pursuit of commerce above all else, especially where music and art are concerned. I understand the need for businesses to make a profit, but it always seemed that the Reading HMV of yore at least explored ways of doing that whilst maintaining some elements of creative and exploratory stock choices.

COMET GAIN: Strength (7″, Wiiija WIJ66, 1997)

This is a great record. ‘Strength’ is a little slice of girl-group/Motown-infused indie-pop that is a lot more proficient and ‘together’-sounding than pretty much anything else you might hear by Comet Gain. That might sound disparaging, but it’s not supposed to be – I really liked Comet Gain (or should that be ‘like’? – are they still going?). I first became aware of them in the early-to-mid ’90s after Huggy Bear/Cornershop/Blood Sausage and other bands, representing some of the UK support of the Riot Grrl scene, often mentioned something called Comet Gain on their sleeves, inserts, flyers and fanzines. I finally tracked down a seven inch bearing this name – which turned out to be that of a band – after some record shop searching. It wasn’t this record that I got – it was a much scrappier, wraparound sleeve/hand-pasted artwork job that I think may have been their first release. It was brilliant. Totally firing out exuberance, positivity and cool in a way that hinted at all kinds of not only indie-pop connections and parallels, but also 1960s cool, underground film-making, and a hard-to-define sense of ‘soul’.

Comet Gain played several years later – 2003, to be exact – at the annual music festival that I co-organise. They were particularly chaotic and shambolic (there was none of the Ronettes sheen of ‘Strength’ apparent during their set), but were fantastically good fun and – for me – a pleasure to see play live at last. As is so often the case with the festival, I was too much a combination of shy and busy to actually make much contact with the band and its members – and so who knows if they’re nice people or not. They seemed to be, though. I swear, if I’d been more outgoing and conversational during the 10+ years I’ve been running this festival, I’d have all kinds of cool friends to bang on about. Not that I don’t have cool friends already. But you know what I mean.

I was listening to an episode of the Sound Opinions podcast this afternoon, and during an interview with Peaches the discussion turned to how Riot Grrl, and its effects, had seemingly been completely forgotten about and overwhelmed by a whole new era of female objectification and dumb-ass pop singers with exceptionally questionable morals and or/values. (Okay, okay, they weren’t that bold in what they were saying, some of that is my own opinion). But isn’t it odd? Riot Grrl seemed to be so confidently final about making a change, but it seemed to fade away. A real shame. I hope we’re in for a similar bout of revolutionary change at some point soon – anything that debunks the idea (for example) of pole-dancing or getting hammered as a positive, empowering activity for independent modern women would have to be a good thing.

JACOB’S MOUSE: Hawaiian Vice (7″, Wiiija LTD 001, 1994)

Wiiija put out a few of these cheapo one-sided 7″ singles – they were just 99 pence each – presumably to big up some of the bands that they were working with at the time. A ‘try before you buy’ ethic, that downright failed with me, unfortunately. I’ve got this one and another by, I think, Free Kitten, and as far as I know they’re the only releases I own by either of those bands. I was certainly drawn in by the 99 pence price tag, and happily picked up these records for that reason, and to satisfy my curiosity about the bands. In neither case though did the single song on offer wow me enough to warrant shelling out more of my hard-earned cash.

It’s a similar reaction to that which I often find with compilations: I’m happy enough to listen to single tracks by bands, and quite enjoy their being compiled, especially if there’s some kind of theme or link (viz. the Sergeant Pepper Knew My Father or Fortune Cookie Prize compilations collecting covers of songs by, respectively, The Beatles and Beat Happening). I don’t have the gene or the memory, however, to place a kernel in my mind to subsequently investigate a band based on just one song. Not unless that song is very, very good. Is that just me?

(PS: the horrific artwork on this record didn’t help much in inspiring me, either…)