14 Iced Bears

With half the band changing between the two sessions, their second visit to the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios found them progressing subtly to a sound that would help define psych-indie.

Now released on vinyl for the first time, these releases capture a band in momentum from early indie popularity to genre-shaping creations. 14 Iced Bears began as one of the most beloved bands on the C86 wave that spread through the UK in the mid-80s after the Jesus and Mary Chain brought back pop songs, albeit drenched in noise, to the alternative scene. Having released a single on the legendary Sarah Records, the Bears went down a psychedelic path for their first album, a move which led to a ringing endorsement from the United States of America’s Dorothy Moskowitz for their cover of ‘Coming Down’, and a six-page article in Shindig magazine, the type of coverage usually reserved for psych giants like Arthur Lee or Syd Barrett.

The band recorded two sessions for John Peel in their earlier period, and these new releases on Precious cover the period from their first single ‘Inside’ (described by Pitchfork as one of the prototype Shoegaze records), of late 1986, to shortly before their acclaimed ‘Come Get Me’ EP on Sarah in 1988. On hearing the Bears’ first session, John Peel exclaimed his new-found love for the band. “My type of band,” he said. “I love these Iced Bears, all 14 of them!”