Posts
40 Riddiford Street. Dartz
With a song lasting only two minutes, taking 40 seconds to introduce the song in the video is rather daring. Dartz are quite fine with this introduction. 40 Riddiford Street explores one of the great problems in this world. Having 24 beers and only two hands. Singer Danz is clearly struggling to find a solution, but has a solid plan. The band is in full support though. In this classic punk song, there are no concessions. Drums and bass pound on while the guitar moves in and out of the song. When its there it's repeating a riff over and over. This is not about being subtle. This is not about playing nice and clean. 40 Riddiford Street is a statement. Dartz presents itself to the world. The album, The Band From Wellington, New Zealand, is out on 4 November.
In Boston all U.S. revolutions start. The Bill of Rock was nailed to a tree recently and Muck and the Mires are its stark defenders. In 1770s military gear the band presents its new single and it is a glorious pop-rock affair. How upbeat can a song be? Where Muck and mates are concerned extremely. Fast, tight, with a couple of great riffs that kill, the revolution is all over the place in a couple of minutes only. Where my acquaintance with the band so far gave me the impression the band to be admirers of 1960s pop-rock able to turn this admiration into very nice self-penned songs, this song goes a step further, because for the first time I'm truly hearing Muck and the Mires and not, fill in your favourite band from the 1960s here. There's something old here, obviously, but also something new with a 100% urgency. And that takes Muck and the Mires to the next level. It's time to sign up to the beat revolution, folks.
More Rum Bar Records niceties this week. Holly Beth Vincent plays on the dirty side of rock music. Slightly slurred singing and distorted guitars set the stage. Hey Boy is a single full of energy. Positive and uncertain. Holly Beth Vincent wants to be with this boy, but what does he want? "Why do I want to be with him"?, she asks herself. She recorded in the past as Holly and the Italians, before moving into other kinds of music. Together with producer Travis Ramin she returns to her first love in music, punk, with a great single, a true 45 rpm, that shows what she's good at. Hey Boy holds it all where punk is concerned and is a great song as well. Pogo with care, aging punkers.
Can you top 'Hey Boy'? Of course. The Downhauls do just that with Convenient Friend. Try to find it on You Tube and you find two videos that cannot cope with the sound coming from the stage. Convenient Friend is a song that is somewhere between punkrock and powerpop and takes the best of both worlds. The Downhauls rock out extremely loud with all that it's got. The singer is a modern day Joan Jett that has thrown everything to do with subtlety overboard as waste cargo. What remains is a song that speeds forward with the proverbial devil on its tail. The singer is mixed right in front of the music. The harmony vocals are top notch. The band is supertight, with a drummer that is really, really going for it. In another universe this song would be number 1 and it looks like it's in mine. This is the best I've heard in punk-rock-pop in a long time. So, ladies of The Downhauls count me in as a convenient friend.
Loula is Dutch singer Julia Hendriks. She's finally ready to release her debut EP, as, as for many people, the pandemic got in the way. On Air Castles she shows different sides to herself. She starts off with 'Top Of Your Mind'. A song with an acoustic guitar played in an orthodox way. Only to burst out in a joyous way next. Loula goes out in a fully pop way, with beats, sequencers and all, while her voice is pumped up in all the right ways. This is creating a sound alright. With a song like this she ought to be able to chase Rondé from the top of the pop pinnacle in NL right away. This song works and even gets to the good side of this old rocker. 'Human', the second song starts with a beautifully recorded piano. Loula is a modern artist and singer but aware of the good things of the past. Together with songwriting partner David Westmeijer (The Brahms) she found a great combination. Loula is a more outspoken singer than Lana del Rey, hence more varied in her approach and certainly more solid. She taps into a lot that is happening in music today, with one difference to most artists. I like what is happening on Air Castles and that has a lot to do with the sound of the EP. This is outstanding. All four songs hit the nail on the head. Loula has one worry less. Her EP certainly is not an air castle.
Oh, yes, let's wind down some more. Truth & Salvage Co. tap into years, no decades of pop music from the past and come up with a glorious new song that really takes the listener by the hand, to walk together through the decades of fond memories and in the meantime brings them this new song. Back In Your Love is the kind of song that is easy to love. The kind of rock ballad that is on the safe side of rock, but unlike a rock band doing a ballad to score a big hit, think 'I Want To Know What Love Is' or something like it, I believe Truth & Salvage Co. is Back In Your Love. A bold statement, yes, as this single is my introduction to the band. The singing, the arrangement of the song, it is all spot on. The mood of the song matches the longing of the lyrics. With a piano and an organ, there's a wide sound, making me think of the first hits of Keane in a combination with some great U.S. acts from the past. On 7 October 'Atoms Form', the band's first album since 2015 will be released.
Is there a week without music from New Zealand? Probably, but it will be hard to spot one on this blog over the past months. Tom Cunliffe makes his debut on these pages today. What triggered me is that Dave Kahn produced the album Cunliffe is about to release, 'Secret Exhibition'. Kahn worked with Reb Fountain and her two records are hard to remain out of my player for a long period of time. Refusing The Wave is a very serious song. Lavishly produced and mixed, giving the impression of a whole orchestra playing behind the singer. There's not one, but the sound is so expressive. Tom Cunliffe presents a very slow single. Don't expect a beat of any kind. All players need one in their heads to keep time. Should I have to compare, it is to Irish bard Damien Rice (where did he go?). Cunliffe can reach me at the same musical and emotional level. Serious pop in other words, lasting almost six minutes, well worth the investment.
More punk from New Zealand. Die! Die! Die! released a 12" single that is so rare "that it may have self-destructed after playing". Smelter is like a downpour of rain washing over me, instantly soaking me to the bone. There's so much energy shared here that sitting still is not an option. There's so much noise coming from the record that it becomes hard to really distinguish between the individual instruments. In an interlude, when there's just voice, a raging bass and drums, there's some respite for the innocent listener. For the rest there's no rest for wicked on Smelter. Die! Die! Die! simply goes full out and hardly has an idea that something like a break exists. The band goes for it for 110% at full speed.
Dutch band Darlyn returns to the blog with a sweet flowing single. It touches on pop with a hint of soul in it. The mood is not happy, more like expressing a deep longing for something that has not been achieved or reached yet. The music wraps itself around singer Diwa Meijman. The subtle tones and soloing notes are all here for her. Darlyn has clearly thought about the arrangement, as there are keyboards, the child piano sound especially, and guitars popping in and out of the song enriching Good Girl no little. Granted, Good Girl is far from a dangerous song. But, hey, who says music needs to be dangerous and there are enough songs that are among the ten songs presented here. Good Girl is simply nice and well made. That is enough for me.
To make this easy. Somebody's Child is the solo project of Cian Godfrey, an Irishmen born in Paris, but active from Ireland. He started his project in 2018 with a string of singles. In 2022 his energy laden new song sees the light of day. Broken Record is anything but a solo singer-songwriter song. Don't be fooled by Irish and solo project. This single rocks as if there's n tomorrow. Everything about it is urgent, full of energy and huge. Somebody's Child sounds as if the stadiums of the world have already been conquered. This is certainly the ambition of Godfrey and he's not hiding it. You will find every trick in the stadium rock book in Broken Record. Whether this is a really, really good song, is a matter of taste. All I can conclude here is that Broken Record works.
To wrap this week up, NYC's Dmitry Wild brings us a protest song. Yes, they do still exist. Liberation is a dark, muddied song, where Wild returns to the dark early 80s with his tone of voice. He puts the kind of deadness into his voice that came with the postpunkers of the time. He combines that with some blistering guitar soloing like no one was familiar with at the time. Liberation is about protesting, as the video shows as well. The theme is extremely timely with protest rising up in several countries for whatever reasons. All are anti-government but for very different reasons. With the scenes coming out of Iran as the most eye-catching: "Set us free", indeed. Wild has packed his message into an urgent song, one that builds up tension and releases it.
Wout de Natris
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten