Delightfully - as of 5 minutes ago - we appear (after much tea'n'dunkies) to have a rough start-to-end mix of the soon-to-be new SpanAm album. The pic is me (or possibly my brother... can't be sure), c.1976, pre-emptively jumping for joy... a prescient 49 years early. Possible sleeve art..? 🙂

It is now RAINING on the Balstock festival. I do not have the Trumpian hubris required to claim that IF the Chickpea Darlings had been asked to play it WOULDN'T have rained... ...I'm just saying that we WEREN'T invited to play, and it did. Jes' sayin'. That's all. Sayin'. 🙂 ☔🌧️☔🌧️☔🌧️☔🌧️☔🌧️☔🌧️☔🌧️☔🌧️☔🌧️☔🌧️☔

As usual where Trump’s concerned the politicians and the talking heads have got it all wrong. He wouldn’t spit on the UK if it was on fire, and nothing he says can be trusted. We’re rolling out the red carpet to a Nazi rapist. Shame on us. www.bbc.com/news/article...

"Career Retrospective"..?!! HA..!! I have it on excellent authority ("myself") that an absurdly fine new 10-choon SpanAm album is only DAYS away from being mixed* - "Paint, Sing, Burn Down Everything" - vinegary ditties for the most vinegary of times... ...oh yes, yes, YES... 🙂 * - by the 🐈‍⬛.

Now then..!! Apparently, the Spanish Amanda's "Let 'Em Eat Art" - the only EP *ever* to be released in 'confectionery' form ('a heavily customised KitKat') - is 3 YEARS OLD TODAY(ish)..!! Still a cheeky wee bugger today, and FREE to y's all..!! ❤️❤️❤️ thespanishamanda.bandcamp.com/track/the-bo...

Well... the Chickpea Darlings haven't, it seems, made the grade to appear at this year's Balstock festival... ...AGAIN. Unlike the North Herts Ladies' Choir and Are Friends Electric ('an electro 80s party band based in Hertfordshire'). Is this what Kurt died for..? IS IT..?!! IS IT..!?!! 😠

Now then..!! Apparently, the Spanish Amanda's "Let 'Em Eat Art" - the only EP *ever* to be released in 'confectionery' form ('a heavily customised KitKat') - is 3 YEARS OLD TODAY(ish)..!! Still a cheeky wee bugger today, and FREE to y's all..!! ❤️❤️❤️ thespanishamanda.bandcamp.com/track/the-bo...

I've a TV crew in my shop on Thursday, filming 'my normal life...' background-y stuff for a local game show contestant. The temptation to create a shop playlist composed entirely of SpanAm, False Dawns, Chickpea Darlings and London Fields songs is troublingly powerful. I mean - I *won't*, but... 😁

Quick note about this release - bit troubling - but we've heard credible accounts of False Dawns CDs actually bullying wimpier discs in people's collections - particularly ones with umlauts - (Queensrÿche, Motörhead, Crüe) - pigtail-pulling, in particular, has been mentioned. Vile, VILE behaviour.

By means of an update re. "My Baby Wants A Riot" - the CPDs wish to put on the record that over the past month or so, the 'baby' in question has sought to vent her pro-riot sentiments in a variety of ways... ...and that she simply CANNOT WAIT until that Nice Mr Trump pays his state visit to the UK.

Tomorrow's soundtrack @ Emmaus Letchworth - mostly the Fountains of Wayne, I think. Suits the sultry Letchworth weather & the Letchworthian 'deep-fried' temperament. Shall report back on whether or not the FOW assists in the charitable sale of sofas, bureaus & upcycled hatstands. Watch this space.

Another Saturday selling (fine, fine) secondhand furniture for Emmaus in Letchworth... ...but WHICH artistes on the shop iPod accompanied most sales..? Well, I can reveal today's top 3 were: i) Microdisney ii) The Smiths iii) The Tansads Another top day, kicking homelessness up the bottom. 👍

While govt is slashing support for disabled people to save £6.7 billion, a #WealthTax on just multi-millionaires and billionaires could raise £24 billion. Great to meet @patmillsuk.bsky.social‬ and @taxjusticeuk.bsky.social‬ to talk about a fairer tax system.

"People with the broadest shoulders should be contributing more." @zoegarbett.bsky.social‬ discusses the Government's cruel benefit cuts and the difference a tax on the super-rich could make on LBC Cross Question.

...and finally - a happy 5th birthday and a hearty slap on the flanks for... thespanishamanda.bandcamp.com/track/pops-g... ...exclusively for those with exquisite good taste, refinement and a nose for the very finest things in indiepop. To everyone else - jog on, jog on, nowt to see here... 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃

thespanishamanda.bandcamp.com/track/raisin... Also from our '5-years-old-today' album, 'Pop's Gone And Bought A Gun', here's Raising Sam Peckinpah... our response to Trump's FIRST four years of fuck-wittery. You have to listen to this 'un all the way through, tho' - nice 'list' thing at the end...

thespanishamanda.bandcamp.com/track/broken... Released 5 years ago today - our (fucking awesome) 'Pop's Gone & Bought A Gun' album, more relevant now than ever. This song ('Broken Toys...') - written, appropriately enough, in an adolescent psychiatric ward. You'll loathe it. 🙂

This week a question from @rachaelmaskell.bsky.social revealed that the UK is training Israeli soldiers - making us actively complicit in the Israeli government's genocide in Gaza. I've asked the Defence Secretary if he'll put a stop to this - there is no excuse for letting this go on.

Bit behind the curve, this, but I've spent the past 6 months wrangling with Letchworth's Trades Descriptions people and have finally been permitted to amend - '...blend of twee & jangly indie-pop...' - to read - '...blend of Einstürzende Neubauten & Gracie Fields...' Missive ends. As you were.

Wally - sir..!! ...Dawn and Dawn have just got home from a double-date with a couple of members of Oasis (they're too coy and ladylike to say who...), and have asked me - somewhat drunkenly - to convey the following 'artwork' to you. May God have mercy on... well, you know, whatever. 🙂

A @subjangle.bsky.social bundle of goodies 👌 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊👍

Aaaaw... you played the Dawns, so y'did... who are threatening to smoke my last packet of Rothmans King Size unless I send you the following (admittedly rather disturbing) image. Blezz 'ee, sir..!! Blezz 'ee..!! 🙂

The False Dawns have (to their undying shame) created what is clearly THE LAZIEST POP VIDEO... EVER. 'Perky bee' and 'enormous poppy' footage shot by Dawn and Dawn this morning in Mrs Darling's garden. "It was a quality bee," shrugs Dawn. "Genuinely top notch." youtu.be/Nf8FvKUDDSU

Just seen this wee chap on top of Mrs Darling's alliums... quite the buzz...

Our friends the False Dawns have promised us half a bottle of cooking sherry and a £2 bet on 'Lucky Lad' in the 3:30 at Lingfield if we post the following: thefalsedawns.bandcamp.com/album/we-jus... And - anyone in the Letchworth area who requires half a bottle of cooking sherry, please DM us. Ta.

Engaging wee review of the Dawns' new EP here from the (always insightful, always discriminating) Alex at Mexico's Sound-&-Vision, below... and the apparent news that the Dawns now possess a 'LOVE CLUB' (regarding which, we have NO IDEA...). svmusica.com/2025/05/27/t...

Tax wealth. Not work.

I think, in fairness, that we should've seen this coming... thefalsedawns.bandcamp.com/album/we-jus...

Our chums, the False Dawns, would like it known that they have a new EP out on BC... and that no Sherman tanks were harmed in its making. They'd also like to hope that none of the Smiths international copyrights were infringed either. Fingers crossed... 🙂 thefalsedawns.bandcamp.com/album/we-jus...

...and dubbing this "FALSE DAWNS go TOTALLY TRUFFAUT..!!": youtu.be/2OiRHFcf8Ic

Just a footnote to our earlier post... to point out that the Letchworth Comet (while being an organ of the press entirely without equal) can occasionally fall victim to a smidgeon of hyperbole... ...reporting this humble vidjo, f'instance, as "FALSE DAWNS GO FULL FELLINI..!!": youtu.be/uKym1b4CxCc

Wondered who'd be the first to come back with this - arguably the finest album ever produced.

Thinking back to everything we were told by their probation officers (and a handful of their more traumatised boyfriends...), I guess this was inevitable. "False Dawns go Full Tarantino" is how it's being reported in the Letchworth Comet... sigh. thefalsedawns.bandcamp.com/album/we-jus...

Oh dear. The False Dawns (our friends..? lodgers..? tormentors..? overlords..?) NOW insist we issue the following demand to the world's music press (yes, ALL of them). We've tried covertly switching them to decaf... but it very clearly hasn't worked. thefalsedawns.bandcamp.com/album/we-jus...

And there's another easy win for nature that Labour have turned their faces against. We might as well have kept the bloody Tories in (this was one of their proposals). I despair.

Our friends the False Dawns have promised us half a bottle of cooking sherry and a £2 bet on 'Lucky Lad' in the 3:30 at Lingfield if we post the following: thefalsedawns.bandcamp.com/album/we-jus... And - anyone in the Letchworth area who requires half a bottle of cooking sherry, please DM us. Ta.

Our chums, the False Dawns, would like it known that they have a new EP out on BC... and that no Sherman tanks were harmed in its making. They'd also like to hope that none of the Smiths international copyrights were infringed either. Fingers crossed... 🙂 thefalsedawns.bandcamp.com/album/we-jus...

"The Government [must recognise] the actions of Israel in Gaza as genocidal acts. We must suspend all arms exports to Israel, and ground the surveillance flights being carried out by the RAF over Gaza" @carladenyer.bsky.social‬ writes in the @metro.co.uk‬ 📷: Mohammed Ibrahim

Fred, the SpanAm cat, looking distinctly nonplussed as his people settle down for Eurovision. He's missed his Eurovision epoch, I feel - he (genuinely) likes flutes, cellos and random songbird-type twittering. Won't countenance EDM at any price. Reckon he'd have appreciated Sandie Shaw... Mmm...

Mekons, sadly, had a decidedly sub-par feel last night at the 100 Club, we reckoned... and a few numbers on the set list that were strictly 'hardcore acolytes only'.

Band outing to see Rialto at the Scala ce soir... an unalloyed delight. Assessments of Louis Eliot: Me: "Cracking pipes. Endearingly sleazy." Jo: "Splendid hair. Shame he's a bit posh." Tomorrow, the Mekons. Expect corresponding remarks re. pipes and hair 24 hours from now. Missive ends.

Tragically, thanks to AI, this is now Google's 'best guess' response to a search for 'Spanish Amanda'. For about 6 months in 2023/4, it thought it was us (hurrah..!). And between about 2018 and 2022, it mostly yielded porn links (but, presumably, porn with a bracingly jangly C86-ish soundtrack).

HE's not an antichrist... ...HE's not an anarchist... ...tiddly-pom...

“Speak The Words” performed at Poetry In The Park at Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen 27th April 2025 #Poetry #Performance #Aberdeen

Support our label/acts on Bandcamp Friday (20% off) ! subjangle.bandcamp.com/merch

UK citizens..!! If you haven't already, you've still got 2 hours left to vote - Green, ideally, but Labour or LidDem at a push. Tory or Reform voter..? SHIT - the polls JUST CLOSED..!! (Sad face emoji, etc., etc., etc...) 💚💚💚❤️💚 💚💚💚💚💚 💚❤️💚💚💚 💚💚💚💚💚 💚💚💛💚💚

Well... we didn't *quite* get to £1,000,000 with the 'Fuck Trump'-themed SpanAm charity single... but we've made up the balance to £50 & whizzed it to Save The Children, who are less likely to spend it on booze and fags than us. Thanks to Bob, Jon, Barry & others who pitched in. Y's are gents. ❤️👍❤️

thespanishamanda.bandcamp.com/track/walter... New SpanAm song (and rather a fine one, we think...) - right here, right now. Tell your chums..!! Tell everyone..!! (No, seriously, though - if you 'do' the socials, and wish to earn Amandapoints(TM), please do... erm, Tweet..? Is it 'Tweet'..?) xxxxxx

I have errands to run this afternoon. This is the cat's way of telling me it's not going to happen...