Various Artists - Under The Bridge 2 (album)

A second collection of new songs from bands and musicians who recorded for Sarah Records in the 1990s, available as a Double LP or as a CD, each with an illustrated colour booklet.

Bigger and more expansive than the first album, and no less wonderful, Under the Bridge 2 is a double LP, containing twenty brand new tracks.

There is a huge range of material here, from intense, dark chamber pop to dense shoegaze to out-and-out indiepop.  Exciting new constellations are revealed: The Gentle Spring (a new project by Michael Hiscock of The Field Mice); Vetchinsky Settings (a collaboration between James Hackett of The Orchids and Mark Tranmer of St Christopher, and now GNAC); and Mystic Village (which features new songs by Robert Cooksey of The Sea Urchins).

You will see familiar starry names like Even As We Speak, The Orchids and Secret Shine - bands whose line-ups have remained mostly unchanged since the 1990s.   And there are established bands who didn’t appear on the first album but are now represented – bands like Action Painting! and The Hit Parade.

Available on double vinyl LP and CD.

TRACKLISTING

Band – song title                                                   
The Gentle Spring - Dodge The Rain  
Action Painting! - Just Who Are The Cockleshell Heroes?   
The Catenary Wires - Alone Tonight            
The Hit Parade - Apple Tree
Jetstream Pony - Look Alive!
Soundwire - Everything Is Real   
Leaf Mosaic - The Branch Line     
Secret Shine - Captivate This Broken Love       
Even As We Speak - Beauty, You Will Break Us All   
GNAC - Double Ninth                           
Tufthunter - Chemistry          
Useless Users - In This, The House Of The Solitary Bees 
The Orchids - A Final Love Song  
Wandering Summer - Wake The Silver Dancing Waves  
Mystic Village - Open Your Eyes                           
Boyracer - Unknown Frequencies   
Robert Sekula - Pamela   
Vetchinsky Settings - Laugh While You Can  
St Christopher - Burnout ’23                    
Sepiasound - June In Her Eyes    

Released 5 April 2024.

Some critical responses to the first Under The Bridge album:

More than a tribute, Under the Bridge captures what made Sarah Records so great. An impeccable blend of past and present, this is essential listening for indie pop lovers of any age. ****½ (AllMusic.com) 

The post-punk sensitivity of those bands has aged well. This is a new mature indie scene in the making.**** (Lucy O’Brien, Mojo)

A quintessential collection for any Sarah fans and collectors.(Louder Than War)