State of the Independents

C86 was a keystone moment in whatever British "indie" music was, even if brought about a huge backlash against many of the bands involved. Listened to today, a lot of it doesn't hold up, as the ease of home recording today makes some of the rough-and-ready numbers look stone age.

Only a handful of 22 bands on it crossed over to the mainstream. Most prominent was Primal Scream, who only hit the charts after an extreme makeover that saw them shift from jangling guitars to dance beats. The Soup Dragons did the same and scored a big hit with a cover of an old Stones song, and the Wedding Present enjoyed some success in the 1990s without really changing their approach. Best of all, Half Man Half Biscuit have kept bringing us sublime observations on modern life after stating on C86 that they hated Nerys Hughes.

As an aside, it's a shame Glossop's finest, the Bodines, never got their rewards. Therese is a cracking little single which suggests they could have made it, but instead they were condemned to cult status.

One of the key bands of the London scene at that time, the June Brides, didn't appear on C86, perhaps wisely given the stigma attached to many of the bands who did. But it didn't help them much in the long run and by 1987 they were gone.  Singer/songwriter Phil Wilson went on to record on Creation but never seemed to top the fab pop rush of In The Rain, one of his old band's earliest songs. It sounded like it was made on a budget of £10, but it's frantic violin and so-obvious-it-works-brilliantly "ba ba ba" section means it still gets played at chez Harrison.

Over a quarter of a century after that one sublime moment, the band is back together and they've made a rather brilliant single. A January Moon is guitar pop in the vein of it's best exponents, the Go-Betweens. Wilson uses his voice's limitations as a strength (weakness = vulnerability) and it's an actual delight to listen to.

A single worth your time, then. Even more so if you order from the label (www.occultation.co.uk), because then you get a ten track CD for your cash, featuring the single and songs including Phil Wilson solo work.

On top of that, the band are playing with the also newly-reformed Distractions up in sunny Salford on August 31st and September 1st. As part of the "End of the Pier Shows" at the Kings Arms, they'll both be joined by Factory Star, led by ex-Blue Orchids and Fall man Martin Bramah. I'll be making an effort to be there.