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Shelflife is proud to present the return of The Proctors on 7" vinyl with their new single "All The Books" b/w "Morning Light." The band has been on a 15 year hiatus as they took a break in 1996 when the UK indie scene was diminishing fast. Now in 2011, they are ready to celebrate their second coming with perhaps their best songs written to date.

The moment we heard the lush and ethereal "All The Books," we were frozen within it's awe-inspiring beauty. A masterpiece of emotion, we fall in love over and over again with each listen. The whispered boy-girl vocals even reminds us of a now Shelflife classic -- Majestic 12's "Nothing on TV." The B-side "Morning Light" is an upbeat and driving heavenly pop hit filled with Byrds-esque jangly guitar leads alongside Gavin's superb vocal melodies. A song that would seem happily bookended by "Emma's House" (The Field Mice) and "Velocity Girl" (Primal Scream).

The Proctors were definitely an influential band in Shelflife's development and it's quite an honor to be working together now. As much as we love their previous catalogue, we feel they are now in a different league. The band has been on an absolute streak of writing perfect pop song after perfect pop song (which you can sample on their Soundcloud page) and we can't wait until their new full length album is complete.

For fans of: The Razorcuts, Biff Bang Pow!, Galaxie 500, The Chills, The Fairways, Secret Shine, Northern Picture Library


Hailing from the West Midlands, The Proctors were formed by Gavin Priest in 1993 following the demise of The Cudgels in which Gavin had been lead guitarist. The Proctors also feature ex-Cudgels Adrian Jones and Stephen Davies on drums and bass guitar respectively. The line-up was completed by Gavin's sister, Christina, who shared vocal duties with Gavin. The group recorded a well received demo tape which led to Albert of Sunday Records (USA) offering to release a 7" single by the band. 'The Baby Blue EP' was released in 1993. The single sold well and impressed by Gavin's songwriting skills, Albert asked The Proctors to commence work on an album. Around this time Stephen took some time out, and the band settled down as a three piece. In 1994 the Moon Song 7" was released to wide spread acclaim and various appearances were made on Sunday Records compilations over the next three years. In 1996 the debut album 'Pinstripes and Englishmen' was released. Again the record sold well and the band had begun to attract a small but loyal following from all over the world. In 1997, Gavin's involvement with other musical projects left little time to concentrate on The Proctors and the group decided to take a break. Following the release on Cloudberry Records in 2009 of an EP of unreleased songs, The Proctors started work on some new recordings in the Summer of 2010. Two tracks from those sessions are featured on the "All The Books" 7". The original line-up of Gavin, Adrian and Stephen are working on the new material, but unfortunately due to now living in Scotland, Christina is unable to join them. Additional female vocals are now provided by Margaret Calleja.