Another Sun: A Brief Review Of The New Under The Bridge Compilation (The Catenary Wires, Boyracer, Sarah Records Bands)

What a great idea this is!

While there are a lot of acts that still make music that references that of the acts of Sarah Records, there are quite a few actual Sarah Records bands still making music that's as vital as that of years ago. A wonderful new compilation album, Under the Bridge, drops this Friday and it should be this week's most exciting release for readers of this site, by a country mile.

Opening with the languid beauty of "Travel Through Midnight" by The Luxembourg Signal (ex-Aberdeen), and progressing to the buoyant pop of "Begins Goodbye" by Even As We Speak, and this set is in a great place from the start. And while a fan of this kind of material might expect jangle-pop, there's more here than that. The slinky "Wish You Well" from Useless Users (ex-Secret Shine and Action Painting!) is a real gem, a moody piece with debts owed to late Sixties psych, while "I Didn't Mean to Stare" by The Orchids is elegantly drawn-out, a rambling emotional journey every bit as rich as their best earlier stuff.

For those looking for the pleasures more typically associated with Sarah Records and its legacy, the excellent "Strood McD F.C." by Jetstream Pony (ex-Aberdeen) and "Larkin" by Boyracer deliver the goods. These numbers are catchy and perfect gems of the sort of indie-pop anyone who's reading here is likely to love too. Elsewhere, "Wall of Sound" from The Catenary Wires (ex-Heavenly) offers up the brand of warm, smart stuff that Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey have been serving up in that band for a few years now, while "Another Sun" by Soundwire (ex-The Sweetest Ache) serves up noisy shoegaze of a sort, though it's laced with the kind of effects we heard on the better late period Primal Scream records. That cut, or the gentle "Arcadian" by Sepiasound (ex-Blueboy), is likely my favorite thing here, but maybe narrowing down to a single track is impossible with something like this.

This is a superbly realized compilation, without a dud on it, and with a clear goal in mind. That the assembled creators achieved so much here is to be applauded. The tracks are to be enjoyed by anyone who grew up and had their tastes shaped in formative years by any of these bands back in the day.

Under the Bridge is out on Friday. More details via the Bandcamp link below.