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Hope Our Paths Cross EP. Tommy WÁ
An uncertain, hesitant voice, the kind that is not exactly easily accepted in the local choir. The music is of a folky nature, with a piano and an organ as well. The first name that shot into my head was City and Colour where the intensity of the opening song, 'Into Your Arms', is concerned. I'm not entirely honest here, as my first thought was a band that I truly do not like, Chefs' Special, and let 'Into Your Arms' be that band's greatest hit. (This was before I'd read the title of Tommy Wá's song!) Tommy Wá is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and Hope Our Paths Cross is his third EP. In his bio he is compared to Michael Kiwanuka and there is some truth in this. Wá is able to reach a maximum effect with relatively little instruments while relying on his voice that is not your average. Typical, yet strong and varied. I had not heard of Tommy Wá until listening to this EP and I have to say that his songs go down really well. At this point 'Alleluya (Another World)' is my favourite. Slow, but with a lush, lingering melody, that is so easy to connect with. It may well be that Tommy Wá is a name to watch.
Miss Georgia Peach goes country in honour of a Minnasota hockey team, the Frost and the U.S. woman hockey team that won a gold medal at the Olympics. All that means nothing in a country where speed skating is the number one winter sport. That aside. The bio referred to the movie 'Slapshot' and I had all but forgotten about it. Now I'm pointed to it, I'm immediately associating it with the outlaw Argentina squad at the World Cup last summer in the U.S.A, Canada and Mexico. They played exactly like the team around Paul Newman's character did in 'Slapshot'. The song 'A Little Bit South Of Sasketoon' is a cover of someone called Stompin' Tom Connors and apparently was played in 'Slapshot'. In the version of Miss Georgia Peach it is a fun song, uptempo country, where the joy of playing it shines through every second of the song. I'll refrain from commenting on The Hockey Song. That is best for all concerned.
Believe you me, there is a record label called Mom's Basement and it has released this single by Caution Bomb. Hailing from Ohio, the trio presents a song somewhere between punkrock and powerpop. It has the credentials to be called punkrock and flows so easy that the pop description is fully deserved as well. Caution Bomb really deserves both monikers. Caution Bomb is guitarist/vocalist and primary songwriter Johnny Stanec, drummer Beau Basement and bassist B.J. Lisko. They have teamed up to continue down rock's path together. On 6 November album 'My Kind Of Team' will be released and if the songs on it are as good as Closer To The Water, it is something to truly look out for.
About a year ago I was in fear to have lost another band that I truly like for the past circa 20 years. Unnecessarily so, as before the summer a new single was released and here is another, with album 'Stay Lonely' just down the road (18 September). Don't Say A Word is a song that again has an electronic foundation, like more recent songs by Blood Red Shoes have. Most likely the duo will partly play live as a four piece again, like a few years ago. Don't Say A Word combines the alternative rock side with the more poppy side of the band and which came through on singer/guitarist Laura-May Carter's solo album 'Bye Bye Jackie'. The combination makes Blood Red Shoes' new single less predictable and good. The musical effects and sounds make it a treat to listen to, the verses are alternatively totally credible, while the chorus is as poppy as this band has ever been. Two more weeks only!
DIIV can be found with three albums on this blog, from 2012, 2016 and 2024. Looking in my collection, I only find the 2016 one, 'Is The Is Are' on record. On 30 October the band's fifth album 'ZIRP!' will be released, so it appears I missed one along the way. Single The Fountain is an alternative rock song that is not afraid of blowing itself up to huge proportions, while singer Zachery Cole Smith sings with his typical soft and timid voice. Guitars are all over the place, distorted, fuzzed, and what not, layer upon layer is placed with a quiet interlude that goes into the second verse. A little Nirvana, yes, but more playful with the sounds and far more layered in the textures of the song. It makes for interesting listening as The Fountain is musically multi-dimensional. I like it alright.
Only a few weeks ago I reviewed a long lost Kurt Baker album from 2010 and here is a new single already. With Wonder Woman Baker does what he's so good at. Finding an interesting riff and translating that riff into a hard rocking song. Together with Brad Marino and Geoff Palmer, Kurt Baker has become my favourite American artist who keeps alive the sort of music that was great in the late 70s and beyond and still sounds good today, if in some cases not better than then. The skills of writing, playing and arranging has risen since 1978. Wonder Woman is a great example of that. No, I can't and won't call it original, but as long as it rocks like Wonder Woman, you won't hear me complaining.
Well into the 15th year of the blog and still new names pop up in the singles section so regularly, that it shows that more band are releasing records, perhaps even more than ever before. Soft Science is such a new name. It is a big band, Katie Haley (lead vocals, percussion), Matt Levine (lead guitar), Ross Levine (guitar, backing vocals), Tony Cale (drums), Becky Cale (bass, backing vocals), and Hans Munz (electronics), are all a part of it. All people of a certain age that still or once again are making music together. Fade is a dreamy but lush song. The bio speaks of "ethereal vocals, luminous guitars and a propulsive pulse, the track captures the bittersweet tension" and I could not have described it better, so decided to just quote here. Right in the intro the band starts rocking out, keeping the pace but dropping the noisy lead guitar, giving way to Katie Haley's voice before the noise and huge sound returns for the chorus and the repeating of the intro. Great single Fade is. Album 'Sand' was released on 4 September.
With 'Romance' still fairly fresh in my ears, here's Marianne, the first single of upcoming album 'Dopamine Chamber', out on 16 October. What to expect, as Fountain D.C. is developing by the album, with 'Romance' containing quiet some musical surprises. The band moved to London in the past years and slowly but surely shook its postpunk feathers. Marianne is another step from there. Alternative pop comes close. Synth swaths can be found all through the song. The drums are still tough, the bass with a delay on the sound very driving, the overall sound is tough as well. Not the style though. Grian Chatten is Grian Chatten, so his voice is the anker but this music is not Fontaines D.C. of 2018 - 2022 for sure. Do I like it? I notice that I can get use to Marianne.
Reading the name Nashville usually puts me on alert. Yes, Brennan Wedl plays like a singer-songwriter with some country elements in there on High Priestess. But nothing that puts me off. High Priestess is an alternative country song that reminds me of 1990s female singers from the U.S. like e.g. Sheryl Crow and The Walkabouts' Carla Torgerson, who were able to give the genre a new and interesting leash. Brennan Wedl does just that with High Priestess. All through the song a pedal steel guitar is doing its thing. Had it been an organ, I would probably not have thought of using the moniker country. Still, an acoustic and an electric guitar, bass and a soft drums is all that the song needs to come alive, with Wedl's voice double tracked. And then enter the pedal steel. Album 'High Priestess' was released on 19 August.
With Sensational, Wishy released an alternative rock song that did not take much time to catch my attention. Just listen to that percussive intro. It's not just drums you hear. Listen to how that bass guitar drops in and then the guitar playing the chords riff that returns all throughout the song. It makes melodic options small for Wishy. But then listen to how that is turned around as well. And then I have not even started about all the breaks in Sensational. In other words, more is happening than my ears can keep up with in the first spins. There will be a lot more to discover in the coming days and weeks. Sensational is a great song to end this week's singles post with. Album 'Nature's Pill' is out on 2 October and don't forget to watch the video. What a tremendous load of work making it must have been.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
