A reel-to-reel tape sat unplayed for 36 years. On 30 September 2026 the London archival label Nausea Records issues Etiquette Session: 1990, eight songs the Belgian post-punk band Your Eyes recorded in a single day in April 1990 and never released. The band split shortly afterwards. The digital version went up in August; the vinyl is a 45 RPM LP, limited to 200 copies on transparent purple with a lyrics and biography insert.

The record runs “Mein Untergang”, “Looking Through Your Eyes”, “Wouldn’t It Be Great” and “But Still” on the first side, and “As Easy As Hate”, “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, “The Dreamless Sleep” and “Dialogue” on the second. Nico de Haan produced the session at Etiquette Studio in Zandvliet on 16 April 1990. Dutch Tape Transfers restored the master tape in 2025 and Frank Gorissen remastered it at Subterra Recordings from the original reel. Caio Batata laid out the artwork around a Steve Slingeneyer drawing originally made for the promo tape that never appeared, with back-cover photographs by Gerry Smet.

Who Your Eyes were

The label tells the band’s history plainly: “In 1989, four musicians from Belgium came together with a shared passion for dark, atmospheric post-punk. Inspired by Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy, and the adventurous sounds coming from the 4AD label.” The line-up was Koen Apers on vocals, Kris De Potter on bass, Tom De Dobbelaer on drums and Bart Verlent on guitar, all from Beveren in East Flanders.

Within months of forming they had a set together and made their live debut in Antwerp, opening for Enema Joe at a Creatures Of The Night party. The response pushed them into the studio the following spring. Then it ended: De Dobbelaer left soon after the session, and the remaining three played one last show in Beveren with Jan Dhooge behind the kit before calling it off. According to the label, “The reel to reel tape was shelved and the recordings remained unreleased for the next 36 years.”

Verlent went on to Sin of Sins, Kandinsky and Hydrom Line, the last of which released through the Belgian label Wool-E Discs in 2000 and again in 2021. He brought the Your Eyes tape to Side-Line’s attention himself.

About Nausea Records

Nausea Records is a London label run by Marcus Lombardi that describes itself as “A London-based archival label uncovering lost and overlooked punk, post-punk and DIY recordings from the 70s and 80s.” Its catalogue works through unreleased and long-out-of-print European material, with recent titles including Intensified Chaos’ “That’s not Freedom 1982”, T-Red’s “Partie 1984-1985” and Cruel Maniax’ “Atomkrig 1985-1988”. Its other current release is Danza Morta’s “Dead Dance 1985”, issued alongside the Your Eyes LP.

The Your Eyes record is not the label’s first Belgian title. Also the new wave band T-Red and the hardcore band Dawn of Liberty released a record with the English label.

Vinyl copies are on pre-order through the label’s own store, with the digital version already on Spotify and YouTube. Neither the band nor the label has announced any live activity around the release.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com