Embed and breakfast man: The Popguns

Sure, Brighton is seen as a creative place, but when I was growing up there, it wasn't exactly knee-deep in local bands. There was The Groove Farm; Bobby Gillespie would commute to his drug den from the seafront; and as the Evening Argus never tired of reminding us, Annie Nightingale lived amongst us. But supporting local bands was a bit like supporting Brighton And Hove Albion - it was very unusual to find yourself cheering success at a national level.

God, when Mung Bean Jesus got picked up as a running punchline in the NME Thrills! section, it was more attention than the paper had given Brighton bands in a decade and a half.

So what could have been more exciting than a proper Brighton brand actually doing well? ("Doing well" here meaning Peel plays, small features in the pop papers, actually grinding tour duties.) Reading fanzine interviews where the group, asked to pick their favourite piece of water, chose the sea down at the end of Holland Road. Holland Road! Where my Dad bought his cars! And would return them, frequently, as was the style in you drove British Leyland vehicles. That was exciting.

And they were pretty special, too. They were The Popguns. And this is what they sounded like. This is Landslide:



Buy
Another Year, Another Address: The best of the Midnight Years
Love Junky

Popguns around the web
The official site
Popguns on Last FM

More Popguns across the weekend
Still A World Away
Waiting For The Winter
Live in Plymouth
Live in Brighton
Someone You Love