Various Artists - Under The Bridge

A compilation of new songs. An essential purchase for all fans of Sarah Records.

The bands on this compilation were all on Sarah Records, or have key members whose bands were on that label. There are some names you’ll recognise: The Orchids, The Wake, Even As We Speak, where line-ups have remained relatively unchanged. And there are newer groups: Jetstream Pony (ex-Aberdeen), The Catenary Wires (ex-Heavenly), Soundwire (ex-The Sweetest Ache), where different shapes have evolved.

Time has moved on, but the music is as wonderful and as idealistic as ever. All the tracks on Under The Bridge are pop gems. Some are punk rock, some are indiepop, others are dreamy swirls of fuzz. Some are gentle and some are some are full of rage, but all of them are defiantly sensitive, literate and independent. (Some things haven’t changed.) The bands on this compilation are flattered, maybe, that people spend serious money bidding for their old 7” singles. But they are a lot more excited about the music they are creating today.

All the tracks on Under The Bridge are new, and most of them are previously unreleased.

When Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey started Skep Wax Records in 2021 they were heavily influenced by the labels they’d worked with in the past: K, Elefant, Fortuna Pop, WIAIWYA. But Sarah Records was the one they admired most: it was ethical, totally independent, and better organised than most majors. When they looked around, they discovered that so many of the bands they once shared a label with were still making fantastic music. Under The Bridge is a celebration of that.
Under The Bridge will be released as a CD album, digital download and limited edition vinyl LP. CDs and LPs will include a 16-page colour booklet.

Tracklist
Tracklist (With A Guide To Previous Incarnations)
GROUP/Song Title MEMBERS WERE PREVIOUSLY IN -

1. THE LUXEMBOURG SIGNAL - Travel Through Midnight Aberdeen
2. EVEN AS WE SPEAK Begins - Goodbye
3. LEAF MOSAIC - Bullet Train The Sugargliders
4. THE ORCHIDS - I Don’t Mean to Stare
5. TUFTHUNTER - Monsieur Jadis Heavenly
6. USELESS USERS - Wish You Well Secret Shine, Action Painting!
7. ST CHRISTOPHER - Stornaway
8. SECRET SHINE - Lost In The Middle
9. BOYRACER - Larkin
10. JETSTREAM PONY - Strood McD F.C. Aberdeen
11. SOUNDWIRE - Another Sun The Sweetest Ache
12. SEPIASOUND - Arcadian Blueboy
13. THE CATENARY WIRES - Wall of Sound Heavenly
14. THE WAKE - Stockport