Sometimes I Want to Return: Sensitive Live (Watch now!)
On the evening of February 12, 2025, in a tiny venue deep in the heart of London’s West End, a very special group of people met to celebrate the launch of the album Sensitive – An Indie Pop Anthology. Available today is sometimes i want to return ~ sensitive live, directed by Tim Sidwell, a filmed version of the record release party where a band called the Sensitivities backed up various singers in celebration of the compilation on Needle Mythology. Watch the trailer here.
In the mid-1980s, a new wave of independent music emerged in the UK. Supported by fanzines and DJs such as John Peel and Janice Long, the musicians emerging from this scene were defiantly DIY in their outlook.
Record labels such as Creation, 53rd & 3rd, The Subway Organisation, and Sarah became synonymous with this emerging scene.
Fusing the vernacular of 60s girl groups, psych-pop and the poetic daredevilry of post-punk trailblazers like The Smiths, Altered Images and Orange Juice, these groups helped define the indie zeitgeist.
Forty years later, in central London, a very special concert took place to mark the release of ‘sensitive’ – an anthology celebrating this scene.
Playing with a very special “house band”, singers from these groups travelled from all over the UK to take part.
What ensued was an unforgettable evening. A emotional one-off celebration, featuring classic songs from the era, which can be heard in their original form on the ‘sensitive’ album.
‘sometimes i want to return’ is the film of that evening. (From the film website)
(Editor’s note: Many of us couldn’t be there so thank you Pete Paphides for making it possible to us to watch this now! This music is basically exactly what made Pam Berry and I start this fanzine. Watching the film is both joyous and life-affirming but also a welcome distraction from the pain of living in the U S A in this moment.)
Pete Paphides and Amelia Fletcher. Photo: Ken Copsey
The film features the following artists:
James Knox from The Waltones
Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey from Talulah Gosh
James Roberts from The Sea Urchins
Sean Dickson from The Soup Dragons
Phil Wilson and Frank Sweeney from The June Brides
Beth Arzy (Jetstream Pony) who sang “Somewhere In China” by Shop Assistants
Pete Astor and Andy Strickland from The Loft and The Weather Prophets
Clare Grogan from Altered Images
Convening for one night only were “house” band The Sensitivities:
Amelia Fletcher (vocals, gutar)
Rob Pursey (bass guitar)
Bob Collins (lead guitar)
Ian Button (drums, backing vocals)
Clare Grogan singing the Primitives’ Crash. Photo: Ken Copsey
Ian Button: There was the bit where Sean D was handing over to Clare G at the practice. I think they knew each other but not sure?
We’d just played “Hang Ten” with Sean but we’d done it really fast, and as he was leaving he told Clare, “Watch out for these guys, they’re punk rockers!”
I didn’t pluck up the nerve to ask Clare if it had been her in a beret across the room from me at a dark and quite empty Theatre of Hate gig in 1980/81. I wouldn’t wear my glasses back then, and I’ve often told people it was her. I don’t know if I want that memory confirmed or shattered!
Rob Pursey:One of my favourite memories of the rehearsals was Pete (Paphides) sitting cross-legged on the floor, listening intently as we worked through the songs. He seemed very happy, and serious at the same time, and I suddenly had a very clear idea of what he’d have been like as a teenager. I got glimpses of teenage versions of loads of people that day. Everyone still seemed able to tap into the idealism and the sheer excitement of the music that defined their youth. I think that’s what made the occasion so wonderful.
The gig was a blur, and we had to concentrate really hard on all these songs we’d only just learnt. But when James started singing ‘Pristine Christine’ a shiver went down my spine and I remember thinking ‘try to remember this moment’.
Andy Strickland and “silver fox of indiepop” Pete Astor from The Loft and The Weather Prophets. Photo: Ken Copsey
Amelia Fletcher: My main memory is trying to carry on doing backing vocals and playing guitar correctly while my childhood hero, Clare Grogan, leant against me and shared my mic, in a rock n roll manner.
I was shocked at how everyone on the stage, and in the audience, looked exactly the same as they did in 1987. The lighting may have been favourable.
The house band in their natural habitat: rehearsal space
Bob Collins: For me, some highlights
1. Also on Clare G entering the room and going from extremely nervous to her immediately putting us at our ease, laughing and joking and not being precious about anything. In particular a great snapshot memory for me is Clare and Amelia doing a quiet practice of the Crash harmonies while i accompanied on guitar. That was a real ‘pinch yourself’ moment.
2. Sean also being super friendly and giving us the long version of the story he tells on the film (it was worth it!)
3. James from the Sea Urchins appearing hugely nervous at first in rehearsal (hope he won’t mind me saying that) but then carrying it off just perfectly. His singing (as evidenced on the film) is fantastic. And the gasp from the room as he took the stage from people who knew who he was, the second gasp from the people that didn’t when he introduced himself, and the third gasp when we actually started the song! This was a song I didn’t really know before we started rehearsing but it became possibly my favourite one of all and, by the time we’d performed, it felt for me like the all time classic that other people already knew it was!
Courtesy of Bob Collins
I’ve attached two images – one is obviously the notes for the chords and structure of “Pristine Christine,” and the other is my annotated list of songs. I thought this would give a tantalising glimpse into a couple of songs we didn’t perform (and one one we did but isn’t on the film), but I also thought it might work as a fun competition for chickfactor readers to see who can work out what the annotations next to each song mean (not entirely sure I can remember myself!)
Pete Paphides, Needle Mythology: Rob Pursey was kind of joking when he said that this is the indiepop Last Waltz. In fact, I know he was joking a bit. But I don’t think that’s too far off the mark really because it really dawned on us in the rehearsal room as we saw all the singers coming and going one by one to do their vocals for the only time prior to the concert which was happening that evening that this had turned into something really unique and special and possibly unrepeatable and certainly on the evening that absolute magic, that absolute fizz in the air that you really were watching something you were going to remember for the rest of your life. I’m so glad that for once in my life I had the foresight to ask a camera crew to come along and film it—and a really good one by the way—and there’s an absolute magic in the air.
Pete Paphides. Photo: Ken Copsey
Everything was a highlight really. It was wonderful to see James Knox give such a charismatic performance of “She Looked Right Through Me.” Beth Arzy really did justice and more to “Somewhere in China” – I think she really got the fragile beauty of that song. The house band were just amazing, they were at it for more than an hour, just incredible, turning their hands to the peculiarities and brilliant detail in every single song. James Roberts from the Sea Urchins just comes strolling into that room like it was only the day before since we’s last seen him and not 30 years ago His voice sounded so beautiful on ”Pristine Christine.” Phil Wilson unleashing his inner rock and roll star, a complete change of personality in stepping on to that stage, it was incredible. Pete Astor, the silver fox of indie pop now, just really imperiously locking into the brilliance of those songs and Andy next to him. Sean Dickson who relived the riotous, carefree energy of Hang Ten, so charismatic. And then of course Clare Grogan, the pure starburst of brilliance and charisma and loveliness, she just charmed everyone around her as you can see in the film. And then that emotional climax, Amelia stepping forward to do “Sensitive,” really doing the song justice, just fantastic, and of course the version of “Talulah Gosh” was just as moving for all of us who were there.
When it comes to indie-pop flame keepers, few do it better than the East Coast band Jeanines. We love their 2019 debut album and cannot wait for the next one out early next year on Slumberland. We caught up with Alicia Jeanine and Jed Smith (My Teenage Stride) to see how they’ve been holding up, what they’ve been listening to and doing over the past few strange years since we saw them play in January 2020 in a chilly basement record shop in Portland. Interview by Gail
CF: What has changed since the pandemic happened? Did you have to cancel plans? Change residence? Change your working style? Alicia: The week we were supposed to leave for Europe to play the Madrid Popfest plus two other dates, the entire world basically shut down. That was super disappointing, of course, but we hope to get to Europe eventually! I also graduated library school in May 2020 and moved to Western Massachusetts for a new job this February, which totally changed our working style. We used to go to our practice space together weekly and work on recording stuff, but now we have to do almost everything separately. Jed helped me get a super basic recording setup in my apartment here, but things still take much longer and aren’t as fun, unfortunately. Jed: What Alicia said, plus a West Coast thing in September that got canceled. Since Alicia moved we’ve seen each other plenty, either me up in Massachusetts or her down in the city for shows, but we can’t really practically record in the same way, so that’s a bit frustrating and the process definitely isn’t as fun.
What were you like as teenagers? Alicia: I was socially maladjusted and had very few friends. I was definitely slowly getting into more and more indie bands, but not many people I knew were into that kind of thing. I was pretty isolated and grew up in suburban sprawl not super close to any cities. Jed: From ages about 13–18, I was more or less completely asocial. So all of junior high and high school, basically. I wasn’t picked on or anything and actually had good social skills—I remember people even trying to befriend me and I’d just…not take them up on it. All of my teen years were spent alone recording songs on a 4-track pretty much as soon as I picked up drums and guitar at 14, doing special effects makeup (I kid you not), and painting (poorly). I can’t really regret not hanging out with anyone during those years because I spent it being creatively productive. Oh, I did have a weird sort of uh…love triangle in like 11th and 12th grade with two girls at school—I was totally in love with one of them who had a boyfriend and the other one had a crush on me and it was fraught and sad and stuff but this all happened at school—I never hung out with them outside of school, nor did I try. So yeah, I was a weird, very much intentionally solitary teen I guess. Okay, that was wayyyyy too much info sorry.
Are you from musical families? Alicia: Yes, my mom has a degree in music and used to teach piano. She only cares about classical music, though. I’m glad to have that foundation (I was forced to take piano and violin throughout my childhood) but I never wanted to be a classical musician. I definitely think some of my ability comes from my mom, though! Jed: Yeah, my grandmother was a piano player, basically a stride piano player like Jelly Roll Morton or Fats Waller; she was a virtuoso with perfect pitch, wish we’d recorded her. My grandfather played drums a bit in church jazz bands and my mom is a jazz musician semi-professionally. So I grew up with a lot of jazz.
When did you write your first song, what was it about, what was it called? Alicia: I didn’t write my first song until about six years ago, actually, with the encouragement of Jed. I don’t remember what it was called or what it was about, though! Jed: The first song I remember writing, which I can still recall completely, like arrangement and everything, was when I was 7, and it was called “Salt Water Up My Nose.” It had a sort of music hall McCartney arrangement with groovy drums and bass arpeggios like Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. I didn’t start playing instruments till I was 14 though, so I had no means to record any of my ditties till then. I was always obsessively doing it though.
What is your songwriting process like? Alicia: Usually I sit down with the guitar and try to will something into my mind, the beginnings of a song. Often it works but sometimes it’s just not the moment. Other times I’ll get a little snippet of a melody or a phrase in my head and sit down and try to work it into a song. Jed: Either a song pops into my head and I go record it, or I think about a song I want to exist and I work out the arrangement and everything in my head, including the production aspects, so it’s more like writing a record than a raw song. I don’t sit down with an instrument to write, so it’s an entirely uh…cerebral process, which makes recording it a joyless, obsessive sort of act of transcription. Working with Alicia changes that process and it’s way more fun.
Where do you write and record? Alicia: I write songs at home. Most of the recording happens at the practice space in Brooklyn, but now I do some recording in my apartment in Massachusetts. Jed: I write when I’m doing something mundane like shopping or cleaning or showering—mowing the lawn used to be a good time for thinking of songs. It’s good to have the nervous part of me busy with some other task so I can free up the good part of me to think about songs. I record everything in my practice space/studio in Bushwick.
Your debut album is awesome! What were you going for when you recorded it? Alicia: I always say I write sad folk songs and Jed turns them into indiepop gems. So yeah, I handed them to him as simple acoustic things, and he transformed them into pop hits! We both were super into adding lots of harmonies. Jed: Thanks! Alicia’s early songs were more often than not minor key songs written with acoustic guitar. I liked the idea of up-tempo, super short minor key pop songs, that’s really the main concept I personally had in mind. I couldn’t think of that many examples of it that were contemporary besides Veronica Falls. We also both really love multipart harmonies including hymnal stuff.
What’s it like being on Slumberland/WIAIWYA? Alicia: Being on Slumberland is a dream come true, and Mike Schulman (Papa Slumber) is the nicest, best person you could hope to have on your team. Working on the EP with John from WIAIWYA was also great. Jed: Same as Alicia, having a record on Slumberland was always a dream and a lot of my friends over the years were in bands I really loved like Cause-Co Motion and Crystal Stilts, who had records on Slumberland—but my first Slumberland obsession was Aislers Set, and I still consider Linton to be one of the greatest songwriters and pop musicians of the past 20+ years. Their stuff was really inspiring to me. WIAIWYA are another great label with great bands and it’s been an honor having a record there.
What is the pop community like where you live? Alicia: In Brooklyn the pop community is doing all right, perhaps not as vibrant as it’s been in the past. It definitely skews older currently. In Western Mass I’m still trying to find any pop community that might exist! Jed: Brooklyn/NYC has had a lot of great guitar pop…some you could call indiepop, for whatever it’s worth, but some like the aforementioned Cause Co-Motion and Crystal Stilts, who for me were more part of the continuation and mutation of the sort of 60s music that’s always been the core of my musical DNA. Right now it’s disjointed. But there’s always great music being made everywhere, even if the people making it aren’t letting anyone hear it.
Whose lyrics do you adore? Alicia: Nothing is coming to mind right off the bat, but I’ve always found the Siddeleys’ lyrics quite clever. Jed: I’m always reticent to say it, but I think Mick Jagger is one of the greatest lyricists of all time when he’s not being childishly misogynistic, and weirdly underrated in that sense…especially considering they’re the second most famous band of all time. Other than that, Linton from Aislers Set’s lyrics are one of the things about them that’s exceptional and makes them stand out from other bands associated with indie pop. I also think Kim Deal is one of the most underrated lyricists of all time, especially on Pod. Chris Knox also.
Where in NYC are you living now? If we came to visit for one day, what should we do? Alicia: Jed lives (and I used to live) in Ridgewood, Queens, right next to North Brooklyn. Depends what you like to do! Ridgewood has some great restaurants and bars (both old and new). The music scene right now is kind of in flux/trying to emerge from the pandemic. Jed: I live in Queens right over the Brooklyn border next to Bushwick. NYC is a horrible place for a day trip or a several-day trip, I think it’s best experienced by actually living here.
How has NYC changed since the crazy time started? Alicia: A lot of places have closed but some haven’t. A lot more outdoor seating, of course! Jed: It’s weird and traumatic and wonderful as ever. The music venue situation is upsetting but I think it’s finding ways to mend. Andy Bodor deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Cakeshop forever.
Can you cook? What is your specialty? Alicia: I can cook but don’t like to. Sometimes I make this thing with green beans and kidney beans that sounds boring and bad but tastes quite good. Jed: For about four years, I was an obsessive bread baker—like three times a week or so, back in like the mid-2000s. Other than that, Mexican and Italian are my things since forever.
What’s in the fridge? Alicia: Eggs, yogurt, fruit, salad stuff, seltzer. Jed: Yogurt, too much cheese, beans, too much seltzer.
What day jobs have you had? Alicia: Librarian, proofreader/editor, software tester, admin stuff. Jed: Special education, barista, video store/music store, proofreader/editor, copywriter, internet “journalist,” music lessons, recording engineer/producer, soundtrack composer. Past couple of years it’s mostly been copywriting and recording/producing, paid work–wise. I also do wet work for the CIA occasionally. Not really though. OR DO I REALLY THOUGH?
What are you reading/watching/eating at the moment? Alicia: I’m about to start reading something that looks really good, but I don’t remember the name! I’ve been watching so much Masterchef, it’s very dumb. Jed: If I visit Alicia it’s nonstop Masterchef, so I guess I have to count that. World/American cinema from 1935 or so to 1985ish. Reading, I’m on a Joan Didion kick right now and just finished Kiss of The Spider Woman by Manuel Puig. I also read books about sharks and deep sea life as often as possible.
What radio shows/DJs/podcasts do you love? Alicia: Lately into podcasts by Jamie Loftus; the current one is about Cathy comics. Also love Maintenance Phase (about bodies/dieting/health fads) and You’re Wrong About (rehashing historical moments with witty banter). Jed: My friend Neal Ramirez has a great show called Sound Burger, and my friends Owen Kline and Sean O’Keefe both have wonderful, unpredictable shows on this indie station called K-PISS (no, really.)
Fave record stores? Alicia: None in particular, but I love places with a great and well-priced used selection. Jed: Earwax, Captured Tracks store, Academy Records, Deep Cuts, and Rough Trade, all in Brooklyn except for Deep Cuts, are/were all great.
How do you consume music? (Platforms, formats) Alicia: Spotify and records, mostly. Jed: I rarely listen to music casually so it’s usually one song or piece, on YouTube, staring at the screen, or my iTunes library. I think YouTube is the best option for music on the internet outside of Bandcamp (for newer/smaller artists).
Do you use any apps or software in to make music? Alicia: Logic to record; Voice Memo to jot down ideas. Jed: Logic for recording and production, voice memo to remember a vocal melody occasionally. In the past I’ve also used Audacity and Garageband.
Who is your style icon? Alicia: No one? Jed: No one. Though David Hemmings’ white pants in Blow-Up make him 10x more foxy.
What are your day jobs? Hobbies? Pets? Kids? Alicia: I’m the outreach librarian at the public library. Music is my hobby, I suppose. I have two beautiful cats—a calico named Heidi, and a gray and white tabby named Biscuit. They are delightful. Jed: I’m a copywriter as my regular thing, peppered with recording/mixing/soundtrack work throughout the year. My extremely lovely black cat Elsa is my familiar.
What would you do this summer if money and COVID were not in the way of your dreams? Alicia: Travel more and maybe tour. Jed: Buy a car and do a road trip across the country and then drive up the coast of California listening to “Babylon Sisters” on repeat. Help some friends out.
What bands/venues do you want to play with/at? Alicia: Dream pairings that won’t happen—Aislers Set, Dear Nora. Jed: Alicia’s picks are good. My Teenage Stride played in this cool outdoor venue at Primavera years ago. I’d like to do that again but having rehearsed more.
Future plans? Upcoming tours/records? Alicia: We have a new LP coming out in early 2022 and we are hopefully playing some dates in California at the beginning of January around the SF Popfest! Jed: New Jeanines LP in early 2022 on Slumberland as well as new Mick Trouble LP on Emotional Response in January, with a special limited edition w/flexidisc bonus thingie for Rough Trade which I’m excited about. Touring Jeanines and Mick in SF Popfest and the West Coast in January also.
Records Alicia Cannot Live Without Dear Nora – Three States The Siddeleys – Slum Clearance Les Calamités – C’est Complet The Aislers Set – How I Learned to Write Backwards Nice Try – S/T (2016) The Mantles – Long Enough to Leave Elliott Smith – all? Frankie Cosmos – Next Thing Go Sailor – S/T Connie Converse – How Sad, How Lovely
Songs That Jed Cannot Live Without “All My Hollowness,” Tall Dwarfs “Nothing But Heartaches,” the Supremes “This Angry Silence,” Television Personalities “Anything Could Happen,” The Clean “Myself When I Am Real,” Charles Mingus (from Mingus Plays Piano) “Reach Out, I’ll Be There,” The Four Tops “Luck of Lucien,” A Tribe Called Quest “Back Up Against the Wall,” Circle Jerks “Doe,” The Breeders “Quick Step,” The Adverts “Ready Teddy,” Little Richard “Hit It and Quit It,” Funkadelic “They Don’t Know,” Kirsty MacColl “Don’t Believe the Hype,” Public Enemy “Oogum Boogum,” Brenton Wood “Lady Rachael,” Kevin Ayers “Solace- A Mexican Serenade,” Scott Joplin “Dawn,” The Four Seasons “Get Right Back,” Maxine Nightingale “I Bet You,” Funkadelic “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath- Black Sabbath “Theme de Camille” from Contempt/Le Mepris soundtrack- George Delerue “Queen of Fools,” Barbara Mills “Do I Love You,” Ronettes “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” Cyndi Lauper “Rosie Won’t You Please Come Home,” Kinks “Gideon’s Bible,” John Cale “Touch the Hem of His Garment,” Sam Cooke & The Soul Stirrers “Mona,” The Beach Boys “Electric Funeral,” Black Sabbath “Sweet & Dandy,” Toots & The Maytals “Into The Groove,” Madonna “After Eight,” Neu! “Your Heart Out,” The Fall “No Side To Fall In,” The Raincoats “Street Fighting Man,” Rolling Stones “When I Grow Up,” The Beach Boys and every Velvet Underground album
Sometimes I Want to Return: Sensitive Live (Watch now!) 
