2023, Week 28, 10 singles

There are so many kinds of music and this week we tap into several different styles. There are some real good songs in between the 10 of this week but the absolute magic comes at the end. This is only the second single of this new Dutch band and one of extreme beauty. Check it out. Just like the rest, as they are all worthy of your attention. Enjoy!

Mystical Porn Heroes EP. Mystical Porn Heroes

Three songs by Italian psych rockers Mystical Porn Heroes. The duo drummer Max Ear (OJM, Ananda Mida, Go Down Records art director) and guitarist and songwriter Andrea Ghion, aka Rocker (Scontro Frontale, Rocker’s Guitar) really go for it, three songs long. Expect a deep rock sound where the guitars of Ghion are all over the place, supported by the relentless activity of Max Ear. To my ears the songs are more rock than psych, but like many artists from the Go Down Records label they land well in my ears. Take the deep riffing of 'Carnal'. Ghion plays in a familiar, rocking way, tapping into a few genres along the song, yet it all sounds so organic and right. The instrumental has more than enough angles to remain interesting for the whole 4 plus minutes the song last. The maxi single is not totally instrumental. The opening song 'Tura' and the final song 'Titana' are sung but the voice is not the strongest point of Mystical Porn Heroes. The whole is certainly interesting enough to spend time with.

The Big Dream. Svperfvtvre 

When a befriended artist asks you to listen to a song by a colleague band of course I pay attention. Svperfvtvre is a band from Cottbus in Germany, like Para Lia, indeed. They practice in the same building. In the single The Big Dream Svperfvtvre taps into music from a long time ago, in a nice and upbeat manner. My mind goes back straight to my student days and the songs we used to dance to at the time. Svperfvtvre uses the same sort of beat that seems to be able to go on for ever, with the synths following that beat, played somewhere between melody and alternative beat. Think Kajagoogoo or The Bronski Beat and a Frankie Goes To Hollywood without the huge Trevor Horn production. Svperfvtvre manages to take that 80s vibe and give it a positive twist matching the far better times, yes, despite everything going on, than the 80s ever were. There's an EP as well, so you better check it out. Dream do come true, sometimes. The Big Dream may be one of them.

Make Me. ON

For fans of PJ Harvey says the bio. Well, not the one on which we recently reported, that has very little to do with the energised and punky track that Torontonians ON released recently. Lucy Di Santo (vocals, bass) with Dan Cornelius on drums and Steve Fall on guitars were once in a band called Acid Test and its 90s legacy comes straight through in Make Me. Smashing Pumpkins of the old days come across the divide of time in the heavily distorted guitars Steve Fall plays, just like there's a touch of Louise Post's way of singing in Lucy Di Santo's voice. So, yes, in that sense the song is a trip down memory lane and there's nothing wrong with that, as long as the quality is there in the now. It is here that ON delivers once again, as you can find on this blog before today. Alternative, grungy punk for the 50 plussers. Count me in.

Cool Imposter. Muck and The Mires

It has to be said, Cool Imposter has a very funny video and the song stands its ground as well. Muck and The Mires can be found on this blog for several years now and the band simply never disappoints. Despite being original songs, they always sound immediately familiar. The band looks it each time as well. This time in an outfit The Kinks wore in the mid sixties. The song is not directly to be tied to that band. To my ears this is perhaps the most original song I've ever heard by Muck and his mates. The sixties are there but there's simply so much more. It doesn't take me long to shouting Cool Imposter along with the band, as not singing along is simply not an option. Like standing still would be if I ever got to see the band live. Something which must be a treat based on all these fun songs I've heard over the past years.

I'm Alice. Alice Cooper

It's fifty one years ago when my favourite high school song was released, 'School's Out', Alice Cooper's first hit in NL. I sang it all day long waiting for that moment to happen. A few great hits followed until it all stopped only a little over a year later, an incidental hit aside. At the time Alice Cooper was a band, not one man. Fast forward to 2023. Alice Cooper, once born as Vincent Furnier in 1948, is still on the block. And truth be told I'm Alice is a song that follows nicely in the line with 'Elected', 'Hello Hurray' and 'No More Mr. Nice Guy'. (No, not School's Out' and 'Halo Of Flies'. That's über category). The double guitars sound as if Glenn Buxton and Michael Bruce are still around. His voice may be a little worn but still convincing. The lyrics are about his live basically, as if he has to convince anyone that he's truly Alice. No one sounds like you, Mr. Cooper.  Not in 1972, not in 2023. At 75 Alice Cooper, like Iggy Pop, is still rocking in all the right ways.

Mild Davis. Frankie and The Witch Fingers

There's so much music that it's impossible to keep up. Even just keeping up with releases is impossible, let alone hear it all. This is once again underscored by the release announcement of Frankie and The Witch Fingers' seventh album for 1 September. To the best of my knowledge 'Mild Davis', the first single from the album, is the first song I've ever heard of the Los Angeles psych punkrockers. Mild Davis is the right kind of introduction. Built around some great guitar riffs with a nice dark sound that bring to mind some great bands from the 70s, like Nazareth for example, the song demands attention straight away. By playing with dynamics and a spacey yet rocking interlude, the song is made even stronger and more interesting. Welcome to the blog, Frankie and The Witch Fingers.

Top Secret Agent Man on a Wire Tapped Phone at Sea. Guitarmy Of One

I'm not even going to try to repeat the title here. Imagination is a good thing to have but sometimes it can be overdone. The fantasy and imagination creating the music is all in good stead though. Guitarmy Of One is the solo project of Scott Helland, who can write on his resume to have played in a band called Deep Wound with J. Mascis and Lou Barlow. As Guitarmy Of One he plays instrumental music, at least on this track, where he plays with the legacy of a guitarist like Dick Dale and translates his surf rock to the 21st century. In other words, you will recognise a lot of familiar elements in Top Secret etc. But all done in such a way that it sounds fresh and new and Helland knows how to play his guitars. The basis is an acoustic one and from there the sound is built, with a drums, bass and a sample about a wiretap at the end. Don't forget to watch the video. Helland tries to run like Tom Cruise in an imaginary video to 'Secret Agent Man'.

Yellow Rose. Para Lia

Para Lia returns to the blog with a rock ballad filled with subtle singing and playing, while keeping the pace of the song at a good and strong level. The drums make sure that Yellow Rose has nothing to do with the rock ballads of old by bands like Foreigner and Journey that could make your teeth crack. The drums are everywhere on the single. In Para Lia's past they were programmed and I suppose this has not changed. It shows how good the modern, digital equipment is. The two notes played on the guitar are the second ear-catching feature but in a sense both are a distraction from the real action in Yellow Rose, the beautiful slow piano notes and long-held keyboard chords. The angelic singing of Cindy Methner is a quality that stands out superbly in Yellow Rose. On top of it all is Para Lia's mastermind , René Methner, who is singing at his softest, almost whispering. Yellow Rose is a beautiful song that totally convinces. Not long to go for the album now.

Countdown To Shutdown. The Hives

A lot of shouting and no wool? Countdown To Shutdown can easily be taken to underscore this Dutch proverb. For that you would have to not hear the extremely strong riffing on the guitars in the song. Missing the incredibly great bass playing and the interaction between bass and drums. In less kinder words: you'd have to be deaf. Singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist may no longer be a young man, the energy he is bringing to the latest single by The Hives is infectious. In other words, The Hives, now for two singles, 'Bogus Operandi' preceded recently on the blog, show that their songs are once again equalling the quality of their 'Veni Vidi Vicious' album of 23 (!) years ago. With two so strong singles, it is nearly impossible the upcoming album, 'The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons', out on 11 August, will not be a good album. We'll know in about a month from now.

The Night. Baker Miller Noir

With its new single, Baker Miller Noir plays with influences from decades ago while also tapping into the sound of relevant new(er) bands like Loupe and Warpaint. The atmosphere of The Night is, dreamy, ethereal, fitting in with elements of what to me constitutes dreampop. At the same time The Night contains elements of 1970s symphonic rock, as can be heard in the "giant" guitar solo in the middle of the song, blending Steve Howe's guitar playing with a slower, jazzy element. All together it gives the single a suave and mature feel, taking the song to a next level. It's the kind of playing that deserves to be heard in bigger venues, where a whole audience can become enraptured by the magic of the playing and the singing. Let's not forget how good Agnes Loonstra is singing here. Undercooled, yet romantic is the way she presents her lyrics (with her smooth sounding bass right in the middle behind her.) The trio, with  Bart van Gemert (drums) and Freek Rijna (guitar), is a great addition to the NL pop front.

Wout de Natris