Spring - C or D ?

As far as I know they made three albums between approx 1996-99 (?) and then split up. I first heard "Tokyo Drifter" about two years ago and adored it - then the bossa-ish track "Chuck It Up" from a Bungalow Records compilation. Glorious stuff ! Why didn't anyone buy their records ?

i like tokyo drifter, but the last one wasn't much of anything. never heard the remix album, maybe it was the best one? they were most like the sundays for me but without the charm of HW of course. now there is Fine! which is the new spanish equivalent of the sundays with the occasional stab at saint etienne-ish pop. maybe some in fine! were in spring? i know the singer is different. spanish pop is so great what with nosotrash, vaccaciones,fine, souvenir, vigil, la buena vida, moving pictures, etc...it's all beautiful. this is why elefant shouldn't release english bands like mogul(awful awful) and just discover more homegrown pop.

I think there is a Saint Etienne connection - they did at leat one gig at an Ice Rink showcase (the Et's label) and covered Shampoo's "Blisters and Bruises", which was produced by Bob n Pete, on their second album I think.

I think the American Spring is/was better, though I like the Spring vs. album that was out a few years back on Elefant. Wasn't there a british 60's psych band called Spring as well? I am frequently confused.

i love the american spring as well (anything vaguely connected with brian wilson, in fact...).
but let's talk about the french ones: i must know, i played drums on their last album, and also on some gigs - the most remembered being that dodgy contest at shepherd's bush empire. :-)
of course, i'm not objective since i played with them because i loved the band, but i must say that to me alex pavlou (spring's singer) is REALLY charming, at the same level than harriet wheeler (although i don't really see the connection between them). i reckon her voice and her performance is closer to jane birkin.
spring had a lot of line-up changes throughout the years, but of the main members on the last line-up (the ones who got their albums distributed all over europe - they had some indie success in japan, but then again, who didn't?): thomas and christophe, the two guitar players, have a new band called Luke which has achieved a well-renowned status on the french scene; and alex has a new project coming up early next year, called Suburbia, which is alex with french producer marc collin (from versailles, the name behind ollano, bang bang, les kidnappeurs...).

my two cents.

Thanks for that Joan ! Just one thing bothers me though - why the split ? Was it because they'd done all they could in that musical incarnation ?

And do you know if there are any London gigs planned for Luke or Suburbia ?

let's say 'personal reasons'.
alex left the band and went to live in london with some guy called lawrence.
the rest of the guys formed Luke, but the bass player left before they recorded the debut album, so now it's the two guitarists from spring plus two other guys.
i don't know if there's any british dates planned for any of the new projects. Luke are touring extensively in france - their record is released by french label le village vert, and it's a great album. Suburbia is going to release the new album in january, i guess - through poplane in france, maybe primerospasitos in spain :-)
if you are looking for an evolution in the spring sound, check suburbia better. it's like spring with beats.

oh, by the way, alex is back in paris for the moment.