We love the Spanish (and yes I do literally)… not only is my good lady Catalan (as are these two labels) but SD Ass. Editor Andy Morten’s fine band Bronco Bullfrog are also signed to a great little Spanish label called Rock Indiana and prior to that released three albums on Mushroom Pillow. They’ve achieved more success in España than anywhere else in the world… and Little Bare Big Bear (mine and Andy’s psych-rock sensations) released our debut 45 on Butterfly records… and… and… and… Marc Argenter from Wah Wah records also does a lot of design work for the Shindig! Corporation and Board. So there… we love ‘em!
     As I have such a massive backlog of records piled up ‘ere next to me I figured it may be easier and quicker to mention the superb Penniman records that Enric sent to me months ago and the latest Wah Wah releases (including Paul’s reviews) in one mini-section. Time, as usual, is not on our side and the record pile is about to tumble… so here we go:

     Barcelona’s Penniman Records, ran by Enric Bosser, has released a slew of quality vinyl 45s, 10”s and albums, all with great design work, detailed liners and superb sound. I’m impressed to say the least!
 
THE BARRIER
First, Last And Always (Penniman; 10”)
     Two of the 60’s finest freakbeat recordings (‘Spot The Lights’ and ‘Dawn Breaks Through’)     are given a faultless service with Penniman’s beautiful looking 10” EP. If you’re a regular to SD then I’ll take it for granted that you know these tracks… and rest assured housed in such a cool sleeve makes them even more appealing. ‘Uh’ the A side of ‘Spot The Lights’, produced and written by Howard & Blaikely, sees the band veer towards Tremeloes-type bubblegum pop whilst acetate cut ‘Tomorrow Of Yesterday’ (an early version of ISSS fave ‘Shapes And Sounds’) is a superb floaty psycher. All in all, a tremendous slab o’wax.
    

THE DOWNLINERS SECT
‘Cadillac’ / ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ (Penniman; 45)
Live In Sweden 2000 (Penniman; 10”)
     Comprising of the two demo recordings the first solid Downliners line-up cut in Mid-’63 at Regent Sound, this lovely looking glossy sleeved 45 comes replete with a wee bit of history courtesy of the Don, and features pretty much the same gnarly ‘Black-Music-By-Surrey-Delta-Teens’ sound the Downliners would perfect for Columbia.
     37 years on and Don and Keith (and some of the lads from The Barrier) are still knockin’ out no thrills R&B (and with the hardship of age and toil their singing has now become something akin to the old black R&B singers the Sect followed as teens…) This live set captures the band lazily working through R&B, playing it easily and a wee bit sloppy… just how we like it. They may not have achieved what the Stones have, but it sounds like these old chaps are still having a great time playing it. The fun comes out of the grooves… and in this complex world, a good bit of primal fun is always needed.
 

THE NERVES
25^th Anniversary (Penniman; 10”)
     The ultimate 70’s power pop record!!! Wow! Oh Wow! The Nerves had a brilliant Mersey sound… and GREAT songs. Blondie may have had the hit with ‘Hanging On The Telephone’, but The Nerves wrote and recorded it first.     Their 4-track EP from ’76 is included here along with a tour poster and two bonus cuts. It’s the stuff that power pop is made of: minimal, tuneful, three part vocals, edge and instant tuneage! I first heard The Nerves way back on a Rhino DIY CD comp, and the love affair is still with me.     Everything about this record reeks of a winning formula. Perfect!!!
 

LITTLE PHIL & THE NIGHTSHADOWS
Patriarchs Of Garage Rock (Penniman; LP)
     With liners by Greg Prevost from The Chesterfield Kings, a glossy laminated gatefold sleeve featuring plenty of pictures and some cool additions in the form of unreleased tracks, this 12-track ’64-’67 collection is quality incarnate. Including “the classics” (‘Sixty Second Swinger’, ‘So Much’) and “the obscure” (like the amazing folk-rocker ‘In The Air’; Kinks’ beat, ‘Plenty Of Trouble’; the ‘Louie Louie’ inspired madness of ‘Perils Of Pauline’; great Zombies like take on ‘Summertime’ and some soulful tracks that air the lads’ genuine talent!) this is definitely a must own for each and every garage hound!
 

LITTLE PHIL & THE NIGHTSHADOWS
‘So Much’ / ‘Toxic Shock’ (Penniman; 45)
     Third 45, ‘So Much’ (released in the garage-sound’s defining year 1966) is a rousing fabs’ tinged pop-beat number and a favourite of Chesterfield Greg. If you don’t know it, you’re missing out! Flipside ‘Toxic Shock’ if not the most invigorating song (it’s Jerry Lee styled boogie) is a comic number about tampon related ailments. Considered risqué it was never released… and it’s not a great loss either. Still, nice for the curio value… and ‘So Much’ is superb!
 

THE REMAINS
‘Don’t Tell Me The Truth’ / ‘Listen To Me’ (Penniman; 45)
     One of the few garage bands to make a faithful return. Barry Tashian and co. play R&R exactly the way they used to. That means: no heavy metal solos, no Phil Collins balladry, and no contemporary flourishes. Perhaps due to Barry getting hip to country music, and playing with Gram an’ all, he completely missed out on the rock bug, and now that’s he’s returned it’s like 1967 never happened. Are you a fan of the 60’s Remains? Yes? You’ll need this then.
 

     Just off Las Ramblas in Barcelona is the superb record shop Wah Wah. This groovy place offers a cornucopia of original vinyl, cool re-issues, hard to find boots and the output of the shop’s own label, which specialises in all manner of weird and wonderful music ranging from proto-heavy to groovy soundtracks and plenty of Spanish psych and prog from the early 70s. They also do a wonderful line in record bags (as used by me…)
 

GUALBERTO Gualberto (Wah Wah; LP)
     After the split of legendary Spanish band Smash Gualberto studied composition in New York and on his return to Spain got together with some top musos and recorded an avant-garde/psych/folk debut album. Clearly this lad could play, and the record veers from flamenco to Moorish music, the childish folk of The Incredible String Band and Syd Barrett to the arty noise making of The Soft Machine. Pretty interesting, but perhaps too demanding for most.
 

IA – BATISTE
Un Gran Dia (Wah Wah; LP)
     This is without question the best thing Wah Wah have released since Vainica Doble. Ia-Batiste featured Jordi Batiste from Maquina and his pal Ia Cluà. This baroque-pop masterpiece was recorded in ’73, clearly influenced by the most melodic segments of the later era Beatles, Kinks, Moody Blues, Bee Gees and the plaintive acousticism of the current singer songwriter movement. Un Gran Dia is a breath of fresh air from the more commonplace musical emblems of prog and hard rock that Spain seemed to be so taken by in the early ‘70s. The album’s production and musical accompaniment (played by Spain’s hottest band’s members) is just plain stunning, and the English and Catalan lyrics and vocals an interesting juxtaposition. This is crying out for a cult of followers… a truly wonderful record.
 

THE STORM
The Storm (Wah Wah; LP)
     Barcelona knocked out a fair few good hard rock bands during the end of Franco’s Facist reign, but I had never heard of The Storm, who released a decent album in ’74 and shared the stage with The Kinks and Slade. The Storm doesn’t sound unlike Grand Funk Railroad and Deep Purple in places, with a bluesy progressive edge brought in by some complex Hammond and guitar parts. Although veering towards bombast a little too much on side two this album relies more on ballsy rock than musical aptitude and should certainly appeal to all fans of monster riffage.
 

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Electric Toxic So Vol.1: Barcelona (Wah Wah; LP)
Electric Toxic So Vol.2: Seville (Wah Wah; LP)
     These two collections draw together pretty much the complete psych / folk / prog pop output of Angel Fabregas’s Catalan Als 4 Vents label and its subsidiaries from c. 1969-73. Attractively packaged in shimmering green and red foil sleeves, the LPs feature a diversity of styles from blues rock (Green Piano) to a Bee Gees-a-like duo (Genesis) across a range of lo-fi 45s. Unless you are especially into the music scene of the region and the period, you won’t know any of these names, but that’s no problem, there are some great tracks on these two volumes. Label designer Jordi Sabates has two cuts on Vol.1; whilst the second is a piano virtuoso instrumental, the first, ‘Another Me, Another You’ features him with the band Black Cat and is a really good piece of music. La Troupe’s two contributions on Vol.1 formed their only 45, and as the liners (in English and Spanish) tell us, have a similar direction to early Fairport Convention. Vol.1 comes complete with a large fold-out insert, which outlines a family tree of Catalan progressive bands and artists from 1969-76.
     Vol.2 features a non-Catalan band in the form of H20 who feature both sides of their lone 45 ‘Pretendo’ and ‘Ven A Mi’. For my money these are the two best numbers on the LP, good punchy tunes with bite. There are other good contributions though from Mane & Gong (‘Love My Baby’), Gualberto & Jessica (‘I Feel Tired’) and Nuevos Tempos (‘Sitting In My Old Way Of Home’ especially). Kick off track Smash’s ‘Ensayo No.1’ is also a minor joy. Vol.2 features a b/w photo play insert showing some of the artists. Whilst these might not be regarded as exactly essential collections, they are important documents of a regional music history that deserves a wider audience. The presentation is attractive and engaging and the music is lo-fi, sometimes esoteric and often intriguing and which grows more familiar and seductive with each play. If you bought Vols. 5 & 6 of the Vinedos series (the two progressive volumes from the same time period as these) then you will want to add these two volumes to them where they most aptly belong.
Paul Martin