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.

A series of new interviews with the bands have been conducted by author Jane Duffus, whose book These Things Happen: The Sarah Records Story will be published by Tangent Books in 2023. The interviews will be posted at www.skepwax.com