Bonnet Of Pins. Matt Berninger
With three The National albums in two years, two studio and a double live album, it was extremely busy times for the band. Despite all this singer Matt Berninger managed to record a solo album on the side. After 'Serpentine Prison', which I still play regularly, it will be his second. In fact, because of 'Serpentine Prison' I found my way into The National, finally. Although I still have to backtrack to the albums fans of old always mention. One of these days I will. Bonnet Of Pins comes as a surprise though. A very pleasant one at that. The song is up tempo. I didn't even realise he was able to. The song has a huge arrangement and sound. A little David Bowie of the 70s. It is built from a tight but relatively empty first verse, although the intro gives a little away of what might be coming. And up and up it goes. A second influence I notice is The Walkabouts. Bonnet Of Pins has that same sort of folk and rock approach and Chris Eckman's voice easily reaches the same timbre as Berninger's. I'm totally surprised but what a great folk rock song this is. Album 'Get Sunk' will be released on 30 May.
Pantalon Blue Jean. The Mexican Standoff
Tex-Mex came to my ears for the first time with 'Mendocino', Sir Douglas Quintet's second and last hit in NL. I had no clue as a young boy, I only noticed that typical and upbeat organ sound. Next, I heard a few songs of Ry Cooder's 'Chicken Skin Music', with the top 40 hit 'He'll Have To Go'. On the album the accordionist was Flaco Jimenez. He may be 86 now but you can hear him on this song by the all female band The Mexican Standoff. Pantalon Blue Jean has everything the typical tex-mex song takes to be one. The traditional instruments, Flaco's accordeon, polka and the Spanish language. It's the kind of song that puts a smile on my face immediately. The lyrics may be sad, I have no clue, the music certainly is not. This is another kind of dancing music that is impossible to stand still to. A nice detail, the song was written in the 1950s by Flaco's father! It still works in the 2020s alright.
Previous Life. Messiness
Psychedelic pop-rock comes from all around the world these days. Messiness, the band around Max Raffa, is from Sicily. Messiness manages to find a near perfect mix between pop and rock, as well as between music from a long time ago and more more modern psych bands like Elephant Stone. Previous Life has a nice hook that comes back all through the song. It makes up an important part of the single. Raffa's way of singing brings together the voices of Liam Gallagher and Gaz Coombes. He's listened quite well to the Britpop singers and then put it on top of this psychedelic pop song. It all sounds very familiar but also tasty. Messiness may be from Milan, it's Sicilian singer leads the way quite convincingly. By the way, this single is the band's debut one. I'm already longing for more.
Love's About Taking The Fall. Emily Zuzik
Alright, okay, I surrender. This is one tough single. Emily Zuzek decided to rock out on 'Love's About Taking The Fall. Written during the first family outing after Covid's first bout, the song shows in music how the singer finally feeling released again. Together with Ted Russell Kamp she created a song that strains the leash no little. The song starts with a tough rhythm and a nice, effective riff. From there more and more instruments are added. An organ, horns, more guitars. Over it all is a voice that has seen some mileage. Emily Zuzek has a rough edge to her voice that makes her sound like she means it. This is a woman that is on the prowl and she's about to get what she wants. Who cares whether his mother likes her or not. This is about the here and now. This is one heck of a rock song.
Destroy. Kikker
Welsh punks that play grunge/alt-rock? What to make of that? But first, Kikker, that's the Dutch word for frog. I wonder if the band knows? Let's revert to the music. Destroy is a pretty cool song actually. The band manages to keep up a great pace, while at the same time injecting some great melody into it all. At the same time Kikker throws in some anarchy for good measure: "I wanna kill everyone that I know". I was writing about the weird guitar noises in the intro, when nihilistic anarchy came in from a different angle as well. But Kikker is far more. This band knows how to write and arrange a song. Listen to what the bass guitarist is doing all through the song. He's playing some great melodies, while the guitarists know how to write a riff or two as well. Kikker is a new name for me, but I'm a fan already.
Krater (acoustic). Neánder
Neánder can be found on this blog since the fall of 2024. Lastly a review of the band's live show in Haarlem. To celebrate the next leg of its tour, the band released an acoustic version of Krater. That Jan Korbach can play some great acoustic guitar we know since the release of his acoustic album under the name of Atem. Together with Patrick Zahn he recorded this version. While playing the main riff on the acoustic guitar Zahn added strings recorded in his own studio making Krater a different kind of song. The metal has been taken out of it. What Krater (acoustic) shows is that a good melody is a good melody no matter how it is played. In a next level arrangement it can become a piece for a classical orchestra, with a lead acoustic guitar. Beautiful is the right word here.
catch these fists. Wet Leg
And there it is, the first sign of life from Wet Leg, as far as I'm concerned the band of 2022. It's debut album is one of the best of this decade so far. Album number 2 is slated for 11 July and will be called 'Moisturizer'. The difficult second album? Judging catch these fists, the answer could be yes. Wet Leg has become a five piece band and that is noticeable in the sound. It's so much bigger. catch these fists revolves around this one riff that is repeated over and over and I can't say I'm very warm to it. Rhian Teasdale's voice is the same as ever, but the fun and joy appears to have gone out of it. "I don't want your love, I just wanna fight", is the main message of the single. Is this the result of touring the world and Wet Leg's bout with success? It's too early to tell which way we are going but if you'd asked me whether I'm a bit disappointed, I'd have to answer you yes. catch these fists sounds a bit like what I was afraid of and at that even a little bit darker.
Stones. Free Dust
Welcome Free Dust. With Stones the band from Mariahout enters the musical world and this blog. It is a bit confusing as singer and guitarist Niek Leenders very recently was on the blog with his band Nouveau Vélo's new album, 'Fruit'. Today it is Stones on which he plays with his brother Tim on bass and wife Inge on drums. Stones is a delightful jingle jangle song that combines a few decades. From Roger McGuinn's guitar playing in The Byrds to Johnny Marr's in The Smiths and dozens of others following them. In as far music needs justification, I imagine it is justified that Stones is released under a different name. Free Dust sounds different, is more direct and has a touch of 60s dark psychedelia around it. It's the kind of song that makes me curious of what is to come.
Shadows. Goddess
Goddess is a
project of Savages drummer Fay Milton. She will release an album filled
with collaborations. The first single is Shadows with singer Elena Tonra
(Ex:Re / Daughter). Besides the prominent drumming, expect a song that
explores its limits far and wide. It starts like a triphop track mixed
with a dollop of dreampop in the way Elena Tonra is singing. At the same
time there is this dark undertone in the intro. You can expect that to
come back, moving Shadows into industrial territory. A dream that turns
into a nightmare it seems. Quite a turn for a song that at first made me think of
Goldfrapp's debut album. In other words, Shadows is not your average
song and has a firm shadow hanging over it. 'Goddess' will be released
on 30 May.
Speaker's Corner. Suzanne Vega
What is Suzanne Vega's (née Peck) age, I just wondered listening to Speaker's Corner? 65, Wikipedia tells me. That sort of figures of course as the singer-songwriter entered my life, just like she will have done for many people of my generation, in the 1980s with her song about child abuse, 'Luka'. In October last year she made an entrance on this blog with the single 'Rats', a "postpunk rock song" as I labelled it . Speaker's Corner, a single from her upcoming album 'Flying With Angles', is a far more traditional singer-songwriter song. That aside, Speaker's Corner is a song with a tough body. Drums and bass with assistance of the acoustic rhythm guitar drive the song onwards. At least four electric guitars fill in nice licks, riffs and tough strums. It makes the ode to the spot in London's Hyde Park spot where anybody can have his or her say, a most attractive song. (As traditions are something that is never let go of in the U.K., I take it it will still be there after I visited it in the 1970s, long before 'Luka' was even thought of.)
Wout de Natris - van der Borght