AVON CALLING 2 – Record Collector Album Review

3/5

The legacy of Bristol’s Indie bands is in safe hands.

In subtitling this follow-up to the 1978 Avon Calling compilation, documenting a multitude of hopeful Bristol indie bands, Forgotten Gems and Unknown Curios, its archivist Simon Edwards (who put out the original LP on his Heartbeat imprint all those years back), is acknowledging both this collection’s distilled essence of musical ambition and that, while none of these acts have transcended their regional scene, some have totally vanished without trace. What got left behind was a veritable treasure trove of cassette tapes that Edwards has horded and loved ever since.

We don’t care that these bands never got to the Colston Hall, let alone Carnegie: what we like is the notion that someone out there is hearing themselves and their aspirations and dreams for the first time for 30 years due to this diligent tending of the flame. What that must feel like!

As you’d anticipate, there’s a certain amount of raw enthusiasm over genuine talent embedded in these C60 demos, but there’s also some perky three-minute pop recorded for posterity. Were you a member of Sneak Preview, The Phone, Social Security (what a shame Self Confession is so grainy), Directors or Europeans? You did good!

(Ian Abrahams)