From the Vaults Friday Dolly Mixture Demonstration Tapes 1983

The Year: 1983
The Album: Dolly Mixture, Demonstration Tapes
Who it Influenced: Talulah Gosh, Tiger Trap, Brilliant Colors, Saint Etienne, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Even in indie music circles, Dolly Mixture remain an obscure proposition; a 'lost' early-'80s act that play only to a small audience of true believers. But in the history of twee, there's something near-canonical about the trio; their jangly, scraggly, shambling indie-pop presaging the developments of the genre —Talulah Gosh, the Shop Assistants, The Pastels and the rest of the C86 crew— that would arrive soon after.

Their only album was, in fact, a double album: the band pressing up their entire collection of 'non-professional recordings' on double wax, putting it in blank white-label artwork, and releasing it themselves. In 1983, that was a recipe for obscurity; calling your LP Demonstration Tapes a proud embrace of amateurism that consigned the record to a staunchly-underground crowd.

But listening to the 27 pop gems herein, contemporary fans of feather-light indie-pop —and of the provocative, anti-rock spirit at the birth of jangle— will hear Dolly Mixture's effective career-retrospective as a treasure trove of glorious, glorious twee-pop.

• Full review: Dolly Mixture, Demonstration Tapes