The Groove Farm

Bristol-based indie pop outfit the Groove Farm took shape amid the C-86 scene, delivering scrappy guitar textures tinged with 1960s echoes. Formed in 1986, the group consisted of singer and guitarist Andrew Jarrett, guitarist Jon Kent, bassist Rupert Taylor, and drummer Jez Butler. The members established their own imprint, Raving Pop Blast!, which issued several 7-inch and 12-inch EPs plus the album Plug (The Story of Pop So Far) from 1987 through 1990. They also appeared on the Subway Organisation roster, where the quartet issued the Alvin Is King! LP and assorted vinyl items, though internal creative tensions and money pressures soon steered them back toward a fully independent path. Supporters including Clare Wadd, later co-founder of Sarah Records, and broadcaster John Peel helped generate widespread coverage in the U.K. fanzine circuit; the track "Baby Blue Marine" even appeared on a Kvatch flexi-disc. After the band dissolved, Jarrett launched Beatnik Filmstars, with Kent and Butler participating in its initial phase, while Taylor later played in Girlboy Girl. Mobstar released the 2000 anthology The Best Parts, Vol. 1 and the live album Totally Total, prompting a one-time reunion gig during the label’s Pop Frenzy Weekend. A decade afterward, the remastered hits-and-rarities set I Know It’s Only Indiepop...But I Like It came out via Big Pink Cake.