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De Zaden Van Morgen. Het Zesde Metaal
Met
hun nieuwe single staat Het Zesde Metaal voor de tweede maal op dit
blog. Het album 'Skepsels' dateert alweer van 2019 en inspireerde mij
tot enkele mooie vergelijkingen. De Zaden Van Morgen voldoet
volledig aan dezelfde, toen geschetste lijnen. Wannes Cappelle en
band roepen opnieuw prachtige vergezichten op met de muziek die rustig
lijkt weg te kabbelen. De stem trekt alle aandacht in eerste instantie.
De West-Vlaamse tongval goed verstaanbaar, maar heel anders dan het Nederlands dat ik hier hoor. De muziek
komt later. In wat inderdaad in eerste instantie een zacht, doch stevig geheel
lijkt, is een vijver vol wervelende schrijvertjes, die kleine
rimpelingen in het water creëren die zacht tegen elkaar aanbotsen, om
samen een kleine golf te maken. Dit prachtige nummer heeft dat allemaal.
When
did I see Girlyman perform in Leiden with Ingrid Elizabeth present as
driver and guest musician? That fatal tour that spelled the end of the
combo? Looking it up, it was in the first months of this blog, May 2012.
Since singer-guitarist Ty Greenstein forms a duo with Ingrid Elizabeth
called Mouth of Babesm that makes its debut on WoNoBlog. This is exactly
the kind of song I remember from the Girlyman show. A tremendously
pleasant pop song with a folk influence graced by beautiful harmonies.
Greenstein - Elizabeth sing together in a beautiful way. Greenstein lead
and Elizabeth in all the places where an extra vocal creates instant
power. The lyrics are about a situation we all desire after a day's hard
work, a stable and loving home. The two obviously have it together. I'm
happy to tell you that so have I and this song underscores it all.
Let's
face it. Tony Marsico not only sounds like he was a members of The
Searchers at the time of 'Needles And Pins', he looks it too. Add a The
Byrds sounding Rickenbacker guitar and everyone listening to this song,
and has some musical "education" when younger than 68 years old, is
catapulted back to the golden pop era from before the summer of love, so
1964-1966. When The Beatles still held hands, The Byrds electrified
Dylan and The Searchers scored a few hitsingles. Guilty Of That is not
that good a song, sorry. What it is, is a very pleasant song, pulling so
much together that it is as if I have known this song for decades already, instead of
past few minutes. A modern and younger band like The Maureens does the same, but
sounds modern as well. Tony Marsico goes for the authentic sound and
succeeds as this could be a good outtake from the latter two mentioned bands. In
other words, well done.
This
review can only be started with the comment that Water Underground
sounds so familiar that it is almost as if the song has always existed,
in one form or another played by a host of bands from the past two
decades. Whether they be called Beach Fossils, or Real Estate. Fact is,
Water Underground is a beautiful song in the indie and dreampop segments
of pop music. The sound is so soft, the guitars meander slowly like a
brook through a dense forest. The water trickling everywhere from rocks
and sticks, softly cascading towards the river downstream. There's
absolutely no danger in this song, that adds a little R.E.M. along the
way. It's just a simple song but one that puts a smile on anybody's face
immediately.
Somewhere
in this song a symphonic rock band is hiding. I'm not a connoisseur of
the genre but can recognise a Fish-era Marillion influence when I hear
it. The Frost starts for me with the drumming of Gavin Harrison. His
accents, double, triple bassdrum riffs and intricate hi-hat fills over all
the "regular" drumming jump out to me. Without exerting power on his
instrument, he's totally present, driving The Frost, while standing out immediately. Like Harrison is holding
back, the band is for most of the time as well. Except in an instrumental piece that
keeps returning, like a wordless second chorus, in which they all go full out, to return for a final time in the short
outro. Over the very present drums, the bass plays short accents,
underscoring the drums. The guitars and keyboards can provide the
melodies, following the vocal melody. All together The Pineapple Thief
presents a great, almost six minute long single, that keeps up the
suspense for the whole of the time.
That
the devil lives in Naples is not that strange. With a huge volcano at
the doorstep and a very active volcanic field around the corner, fire and
brimstone are available in abundance. For the devil the divine is
nothing but an illusion provided by a mighty adversary. I don't believe
in either. That devil is inside of us all. It is societal rules and the
love for people close to one, that assist in containing it. The Devils
have had enough of Humanity, it's video starts with proclaiming. I tend
to disagree but listening to a song like Divine Is The Illusion is no
punishment. The heavily distorted guitar and bass and the loud pounding
on the drums spell rock and roll to me. The White Stripes variety of
rock and roll is, when played right, exciting and The Devils play it. Singer and drummer Erika
Switchblade has the voice to support this kind of rock and roll and
guitarist Gianni Blacula's riffs to do the rest. The drums do the rest. In Erika Switchblade Meg White has a worthy successor.
And
now for something completely different, to quote a famous tv show from
over 50 years ago. Melle Kromhout has released his new album, 'Most of
the Light Passes Through', this week. 'A Small Universe' is one of the
singles. The instrumental piece is not the easiest to get attached to,
in the beginning. A rhythm that seemingly comes to the listener from the
other side of the city opens the composition. A little, two-note melody
is added before more comes in later moving around that melody. The
sound of the lead instrument, my guess is a synth perhaps organ, gives the
song a hint of Irish folk music and when the rhythm really comes in,
that feeling is confirmed. By then I have been drawn into A Small
Universe. Kromhout's single is intriguing because it is never fully
clear what will happen next. Will there be another change? You can find
out for yourself....
When
several years ago an album of Adriann Lenker, 'Abysskiss', laid in
my mailbox, I had no idea who she was and had never heard of her band
Big Thief. Today, it's the other way around, Adrianne Lenker releases a
new solo album following huge successes with her band. Ruined is a bare
song. Piano and atmospheric sounds are the basis of this song, with
Lenker really taking the lead with her soft and meandering vocals. The
result is impressive. The feeling she shares with all listening, "when
you come around, I'm ruined", comes across more than double because of
the mysterious sounds surrounding voice and piano. The video
accompanying is the absolute antithesis of the song, despite the ambiguity. It shows the
happiness of two people being together, but also a lot of loneliness, so
there is some explaining to do as well. It doesn't take anything away
from the intricate and delicate beauty of Ruined. Adrianne Lenker is in
absolute top form here.
In
the late 90s Art Bell had, from what I'm reading from a quote here, a
rather esoteric midnight show. The man is no longer alive, hence the
title of this fresh-sounding rock song by Boston-Phoenix duo Canyons and
Locusts. The song starts in a way that sets it apart from most others.
It's like an old steam train getting into its stride before it gets into
its rhythm. As it were, you can hear the pistons starting to churn in the
first 30 seconds of this song, that clocks at only 134 of them. I love
the way the rhythm changes from the stop-start to the seemingly ever
faster rhythm before the singing starts. The rock song that unfolds fits
in well with the legacy of Boston rock bands from the 1990s. The video
is something to watch as well. It's a piece of art in its own right.
In a way White Trucks reminds me of 'Water Underground' by Real Estate, see above. Both songs have that soft voice singing. Lions of the Interstate is a lot less subtle when it comes to playing though and I might add, a tad more frivolous in the arrangement. While the song has that dreamy quality thanks to the singing, the band comes in quite soon to shake everyone awake to pay attention. Lions of the Interstate is a band that grew its members over a few years. It started in 2019 when two friends started a new band together and from there asked others to join, including two they played with in a The Smiths cover band. There is an album out, 'Strange Empires', and White Trucks is a great add for it. The mysterious radio or 27MC talking snippets, the trumpet that comes in at the end, the level of rock the band is able to conjure up, it is all spot on.
Wout de Natris
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