310 TINY MONROE, Dustball, Oxford Hobgoblin, Wednesday 6 December 1995

Have car, will travel! Used my work hire car to drive Beef to this new venue in chuffing cold and snow! D'oh! A very quiet turnout in this Jericho Tavern-like venue, thanks to the grotty weather.

Still, we had some spiky punk rock to warm our ears, thanks to Oxford's Dustball. 3 painfully young lads kicking up an untutored Ash/ Senseless Things groove, which is bound to sound better after more gigs perfecting their art. They also need more drumsticks, because when the drummer dropped one, the whole gig ground to a halt!

Tiny Monroe, after a considerable hibernation, are out again and starting from scratch, having lost the female-fronted guitar pop momentum to Echobelly, Sleeper, Elastica et al. Tonight's punchy performance to a largely disinterested Oxford crowd and a couple of hip-swaying Swindonians, however suggests they have the determination to catch up. They certainly have the good quality tunes (the newer material seemingly a little rockier than their 2 previous, more laid-back singles), and in NJ they have a vocalist with presence, a delicious husky voice, the type Fiona Parachute Men used to excel in purveying, and eyes like pools of ink. Good luck to them; I for one will be watching closely!

312 TINY MONROE, Cellophane Aeroplanes, Bath Moles, Thursday 14 December 1995

The usual Thursday night Moles crew, including a semi-pissed Beef, who had been on a works Chrimbo "do" all afternoon and oddly enough smelled of meths (!), bopped down for the Tinies, for the final gig of 1995. Me and Beef got in on the guest list, thanks to some negotiating back at the Oxford gig earlier this month with their manager! Had an interesting chat with said gent before the support band came on. They had one interesting number and a good name, but overall were slightly predictable, cheesy and a little bit dull countrified rock.

The Tinies took the Moles stage at 11.30, and burst into a more dynamic set of their thoughtful but occasionally exciting guitar pop than the recent Oxford gig. The crowd, led by a swaying Beef and I, shook legs and limbs appreciatively, and the band responded positively, producing a fine 3/4 hour of varied tempo-wise but consistently entertaining pop. Popped backstage afterwards quickly for cheers, as vocalist NJ had recognised me from the Oxford gig. Hmm, must've been the tartan trousers...

318 TINY MONROE, The Supernaturals, Bath Moles Club, Thursday 4 April 1996

Back to Moles on a Thursday night for the Tinies; found a queue when we got there, but it was misleading, as the venue was only half full!

First band on, The Supernaturals, were a young Scottish band with more 60's sensibilities than Teenage Fanclub pretensions. When they were good they came across as a less pretentious standard Britpop band, say Dodgy, but when they were bad they were clumsy and rigid. Give 'em time, maybe...

Talked to old Swindonian Pete Smart, who apparently went to college with Tiny Monroe's guitarist (hmm, small world...) before vocalist NJ led the boys onstage at 11.30. A fine but disappointingly short (only 1/2 hour!) set of their studied guitar pop followed, with new songs becoming more familiar with every airing. "Love Of The Bottle" and the closer "Cream Bun" were the highlights of the set, during which I even had a conversation with the onstage NJ! Got to chat again afterwards, and we left looking forward to their forthcoming album. Less dynamic than yer Sleeper or Echobelly, and less quality than the excellent Tongue, the Tinies are nevertheless a worthwhile pop band with hidden depths. Hopefully, should be a good LP...

331 TINY MONROE, TONGUE, Bath Moles Club, Thursday 20 June 1996

Had a "Quid To Get In!" flyer through the post from our good friends Tongue, formerly The Julie Dolphin, so off we did trot, meeting up with bassist Geoff at the bar. Geoff's sporting a new Michael Caine image, so we caught up with him and gorgeous vocalist Dianne as well!

Tongue went on at 10.45, looking to make a good impression to watching Arista record company people with a good short, sharp and spiky set. Worry ye not, they were stupendous; Clive and I were again the Dervish Brothers to their raucous yet startlingly tuneful powerful pop set. A mesmeric "Head" again the climax and the highlight, but the "in the can" next single ran it close. Tongue, here's to you, here's to you, and the things you do! Getting better all the time!

The party, however, wasn't over yet! Chatted to Geoff at the bar (again!) before heading back upfront to see The Tinies. Despite being an obvious 2nd best to the superb Tongue tonight, and despite this being their 3rd Moles gig in the last 6 months, they still put on a rattling good set, with the strident pop of their new single "Open invitation" (what is it with Tiny Monroe and their "-ation" rhymes anyway?) their best number. They're getting better, too!

A quick chat with Tongue at the bar before we left - including our persuading them to play at Clive's 40th birthday party next January. If that comes off, that'd be amazing...

And it did/was!