There are a couple of cracking singles being released soon on Brighton’s Faux Discx record label, and I reckon those of you who collect such things will be very much interested in snapping up a copy.

This is part of a series of split 7″ releases called the CMYK series (after the way colours are specified for print – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and K, which stands for black for some reason).  The previous one, Cyan, which included Cold Pumas and Male Bonding, has already sold out (the inconsiderate bastard) but the next two – namely Magenta and Yellow – are available to pre-order now.

The four bands on these singles are Friendo, Lab Coast (Y), and Ale Mania and Sauna Youth (M).

Yellow has actually ended up as a bit of a Canadian takeover, with both bands hailing, I believe, from Calgary.  They also both purvey a rather fuzzy, dreamy take on guitar pop, and of the two singles I suppose you’d say this one holds together with the most consistency, although that’s hardly the role of a split 7″ of course.

LAB COAST – Astronaut Like Me by Faux Discx

Magenta, on the other hand, is a little less consistent of character, with Ale Mania’s contribution sounding like an odd take on eighties synth-pop, mixed with a bit fey indie guitar stuff.

Sauna Youth just make fine, fuzzy, garagey guitar music, complete with a yobbish vocal inflection which seems to dip its toes equally in the waters of punk’s ‘yeah, fuck off’ attitude and indie’s ‘yeah, so what’ sulk.

Of the four songs I’ve downloaded so far (there are actually four songs per release, but you only get to download two when you pre-order the vinyl) I reckon Astronaut Like Me by Lab Coast might be my personal pick of the four, closely followed by the part raucous, part utterly indifferent Backgrounds by Sauna Youth.

SAUNA YOUTH – Backgrounds by Faux Discx

I am always impressed with these kinds of projects.  With a bit more confidence and a bit more money it’s something I’d love to do more of at Song, by Toad Records actually, but as a collector of vinyl, these little series and oddities really are like crack to me. It’s the kind of stuff which is pretty much guaranteed to hook a passionate fan (if they happen to have a turntable), and which frequently feels just a little bit wrong when the big labels try and do it – although that could just be my inverse-snobbery kicking in.

We nearly missed our anniversary again this year, but fortunately caught the fucker just in time.  We were heading off to Leith to get some scran and I was sitting at the bus stop thinking about how it was nearly August and then asked one of those stupid questions you ask when something is really obvious, but actually so obvious you become unsure of it:

“It’s July, right?”
“Yes, of course it is.”
“That means it must be nearly…” (hastily fishes in pocket for phone) “Fuck!  It’s our anniversary.  Today!”

When your wife forgets the thing entirely as well I guess it makes no difference, so instead of going to see something daft at the pictures, we went to a fishy place, had a seafood platter and bottle of champagne, before going for (a couple too many) cocktails at The Raconteur round the corner from our house.

Five years married.  Oh how happy we looked.  That didn’t last*.

Direct download: Toadcast #185 – The Weddingcast

01. Mazes – Summer Hits (00.22)
02. Frightened Rabbit – Fuck This Place (feat. Tracyanne Campbell) (05.49)
03. CD/EX – Tell the Girl (12.13)
04. Lab Coast – Astronaut Like Me (18.11)
05. Sauna Youth – Backgrounds (20.31)
06. Hookworms – Teen Dreams (26.52)
07. R.E.M. – Swan Swan H (Athens Demo) (41.33)
08. Admiral Radley – All Fucked on Beer (44.24)
09. Dolfinz – Coral Reefer (51.17)
10. Tom Waits – All the World is Green (59.01)

*Of course it fucking did, don’t be silly.  We’re the happiest fucking couple I know, despite spending 90% of our time together swearing at one another!