Free Electricity. The Go

Free Electricity is a new album, well, from 2000. Long lost that is called, but reading up on it, it's more like the people who were responsible for releasing it back then, decided to bury it as deep as possible, never to be heard again. In hindsight, it was the right album at the wrong time.

When I listened to the mp3s I was sent for the first time, I had no idea. What I heard was an inspired band that is belting out psychedelic rock as if there is no tomorrow. There are so many bands trying to emulate what came before, that The Go fitted into that long, long list with ease. The sound is like second half 1960s psych rock, especially the singing, but the recording sound definitely isn't. 2020s Anyone?, sure!

And then I read the bio before I started writing, something I do not always do. That would have brought a nice surprise after writing, wouldn't it? A band that comes to mind while listening to Free Electricity, is MC5. The approach of it's most famous song, 'Kick Out The Jams', can be found on Free Electricity regularly. The energy coming from songs like the title song and 'All Dimensions Are Loose' is tremendous, like, well, free electricity. The Go doesn't hold back for a single second.

The Go formed in 1996 in Detroit and one of its first guitarists was Jack White, who of course went off on his own to global fame. He hadn't forgotten his band mates as he took them on tour with The White Stripes in 2003 on the 'Elephant' tour. The band folded after a final album in 2013.

Back to Free Electricity. It is stressed that the album was a total departure from the garage rock of 'Whatcha Doin' released in 1998, after which Jack White left the band. More experimental, with psychedelia, some eastern influences and free jazz, as the bio says. I hear a lot on Free Electricity but not the peep-oink (translation of the Dutch 'piep-knor') music I associate with free jazz. In general the songs are trippy but mostly straight forward. Okay, in 'Blood Red Sun' things do get a bit wild, but this is still rock and loud rock at that; and experimental, alright.

The songs were all recorded in one of at most two takes, after which the band went in search of extras that the available recording time allowed for. The result is an album that has captured the energy of those almost live takes and the extras that make a song more interesting (at times).

Come 2026, someone at Sub Pop found the tapes, recognised the quality and decided to release the record any way. Something like  that it seems. Today, I can imagine that a label having to come off of the unexpected and huge success of Nirvana and grunge, could not handle Free Electricity at the time and certainly not after an album that, it is said, as I'm not familiar with it, was so different in style. It also shows that someone needs to hold out an open ear, as this album, let's face it, is released 26 years too late. It would have led the pack of psych bands and now is obliged to come late to the party and too late for The Go, as there is no band of that name in existence since 2013.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Free Electricity here:

https://listentothego.bandcamp.com/album/free-electricity 

Dumb Sites. Tape Toy

Don't let yourself get fooled by the opening sounds of Dumb Sites, nor by the last song, should you hear that first for some reason. Dumb Sites is a great alternative rock, post punk album. It brings everything and more what the reviewed singles earlier this year promised.

My introduction to the band was through the EP 'Launch The Rocket' which received a positive review on this blog in January 2025. My direct reference was to 80s synth pop/rock and even referred to Kim Wilde in my review. There's nothing left of that association. The one that remains is with fellow Amsterdam band POM and in a song like 'Fake It' with Wolf Alice and both are not a bad place to be.

Things go much further though. Tape Toy goes down the punk path with a lot of loud songs. What makes it different, as in not American punk(rock), is the totally different approach to the arrangement of a song. The music is allowed to be far richer. Sounds, effects, layered and heavily distorted guitars create a wall of sound and an arrangement that goes far beyond the one, two, three, four and go punk from the U.S.

Tape Toy is lead singer and guitarist Roos van Tuil, vocalist and guitarist Wesley Fransen, bassist Maurice van de Graaf and drummer Marc van Dongen. Let's focus on the last two. In 'Crosswords', a dreamy but loud track, Van de Graaf plays the deep end with a distorted sound on his bass, giving the song an oomph that Van Dongen matches with a drum part that propels 'Crosswords' ever forward. The light and the shade Tape Toy creates together makes 'Crosswords' not just a good song, but a great one.

I've read a review on Dumb Sites in 'Oor' and the gist was the band did not get everything out of itself. Having listened to the album multiple times by now, I can only muse what could have been better then? Besides that an album like this in general has been made before, Dumb Sites is so rich in sound and the compositions so strong, for the most part. Even after several listening sessions the turn a song takes can still surprise me and leave me in awe of what Tape Toy came up with.

I still truly like 'Kids In America' (Kim Wilde above), but Tape Toy goes so far beyond that song and has all the power that Wolf Alice has left behind itself on its last two albums. (Don't get me wrong, I like them a lot!) Dumb Sites goes further and deeper and above all louder. The album is all over the place in my ears and brain. At this point in time, I'd put it on a level of 'Letter To Self', the album that broke SPRINTS to me in 2024. The only thing missing is an instant banger like 'Literary Mind'. For the rest, Dumb Sites scores big. Just as long as you skip that last song, but hey, it may well be your favourite, who knows?

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can order Dumb Sites here:

https://excelsior-recordings.com/products/tape-toy-dumb-sites 

Daughter From Hell. Gracie Abrams

Gracie Abrams werd in een paar jaar tijd een wereldster en bevestigt die status met haar derde album Daughter from Hell, waarop ze deels terugkeert naar de singer-songwriter pop van haar debuutalbum Good Riddance.

De Amerikaanse muzikante Gracie Abrams lijkt alles goed voor elkaar te hebben in haar leven, maar dat is niet te merken in de teksten van de songs op haar nieuwe album Daughter from Hell. Het is een album met zeer persoonlijke songs waarin de donkere wolken het overtuigend winnen van de zonnestralen. Gracie Abrams heeft wederom gekozen voor de samenwerking met Aaron Dessner en dat levert een prachtig klinkend album op. Het is een album waarop de Amerikaanse muzikante doet waar ze goed in is, maar af en toe ook net wat buiten de lijntjes kleurt. Daughter from Hell valt vooralsnog niet erg in de smaak bij de critici, maar voor mij is dit een van de beste albums van 2026 en Daughter from Hell groeit nog wel even door.

In juli verscheen Daughter from Hell, het derde album van de Amerikaanse muzikante Gracie Abrams. Het is een album dat tot dusver gemengde, maar toch overwegend negatieve reacties oproept. De Britse kwaliteitskrant The Guardian noemt het album zelfs bloedeloos en geeft het een dikke onvoldoende, maar ook een aantal Amerikaanse muziekwebsites die ik hoog heb zitten komen niet verder dan een magere voldoende voor Daughter from Hell. 

Ik heb het album zelf inmiddels meerdere keren beluisterd en ervaar het nieuwe album van Gracie Abrams echt totaal anders. Nu ben ik ook wel een fan van de muzikante uit Los Angeles, die met haar eerste twee albums mijn jaarlijstje haalde. Ik was twee jaar geleden erg enthousiast over The Secret of Us, maar het debuutalbum van Gracie Abrams, het in 2023 uitgebrachte Good Riddance, vind ik nog veel beter en is wat mij betreft een van de beste popalbums van dit decennium. 

Het is voor mij dan ook goed nieuws dat Gracie Abrams na het wat richting pop opgeschoven The Secret of Us op Daughter from Hell weer kiest voor het geluid van haar debuutalbum. Ook het derde album van de Amerikaanse muzikante is een popalbum, maar op Daughter from Hell horen we toch weer vooral de singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams. 

Het is een behoorlijk donker album geworden, want vrijwel alle teksten op het album gaan over thema’s als kwetsbaarheid, onzekerheid, liefdesverdriet en het lastige pad naar volwassenheid. Het voegt wat mij betreft flink wat emotionele lading toe aan het album, waardoor ik het album persoonlijk verre van bloedeloos vind. 

Gracie Abrams maakte ook haar derde album weer met producer Aaron Dessner, in een aantal tracks bijgestaan door Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). Aaron Dessner schreef ook mee aan de songs en ook dit keer is er een beperkte bijdrage van Audrey Hobert, die zo’n belangrijke rol speelde op The Secret of Us, maar inmiddels zelf als muzikante aan de weg timmert (check haar geweldige album Who’s The Clown? uit 2025). 

Daughter from Hell is een vooral ingetogen album, maar bevat ook een aantal uptempo songs. In deze songs, zoals bijvoorbeeld Look At My Life, zit de muziek van Gracie Abrams heel dicht tegen die van Taylor Swift op albums als Midnights en The Tortured Poets Department aan. Ik heb zelf dan ook een duidelijke voorkeur voor de meer ingetogen singer-songwriter songs op Daughter from Hell, waarop Gracie Abrams een meer eigen geluid laat horen. 

Het is een geluid waarin de vrij zachte, maar bijzonder mooie en ook karakteristieke stem van Gracie Abrams centraal staat. Mij raakt ze keer op keer met de zestien songs op haar nieuwe album, waarop ze wat mij betreft nog beter en met meer gevoel zingt dan op haar eerste twee albums. 

In muzikaal opzicht is Daughter from Hell misschien een vrij veilig album, maar de chemie tussen Gracie Abrams en Aaron Dessner werkt wat mij betreft nog steeds. Het spannendst zijn wat mij betreft de songs waarop Gracie Abrams zich net iets buiten de gebaande paden beweegt, zoals in de met gruizige gitaren gevulde titeltrack of het juist minimalistisch ingekleurde Cold Goodbyes, maar ook de vintage Gracie Abrams songs zijn van een hoog niveau. 

Ik ben voorlopig nog lang niet uitgekeken op het bijna een uur durende en bezielde Daughter from Hell, dat ik hoger inschat dan het zo succesvolle The Secret of Us en dat niet onderdoet voor het geweldige Good Riddance.

Erwin Zijleman

Hey Pony. Hey Pony

Sometimes a new album just falls on my door mat, uninvited but on principle welcome. Very rare exceptions aside, a rapper or something, I will always give such an album a chance. A few weeks ago I found Hey Pony on the doormat, accompanied by the question to give the album a chance. I have, multiple times, as I truly like what I'm hearing.

Hey Pony is a duo from the "Bollenstreek", or there where the tourists go in droves in spring to watch the tulips and more in bloom. Now, in the 90s I recall a funk band called Red Hot Tulpen Bollen, I practised with a band in Voorhout for a few weeks circA 1997 and practised with another band for a year in a bulb shed in Voorhout in 2012, from which my current band rose from the ashes. Except for Howrah, a resurrected band now three albums into its new career, that is where my knowledge of things rock stops from the Bollenstreek.

Enter Hey Pony. It is a collaboration, as they call it, between Naomi van der Ven en Mark van Rijnberk. Both have a thirty year career in music and recorded two records in 2005 and 2010 together. I may have seen Van Rijnbeek play in The Avonden and certainly heard him on record, as I have a few albums by that band.

Put Hey Pony in your cd player and this pleasant sounding indie (rock) starts to come out of your speakers. This duo knows how to make songs that please. Alternative enough to be credible, but they also have a pop feel that makes it so easy to connect with the music.

Take 'Connect The Dots' as an example. The way a piano meanders through the song makes it so attractive. And here's a guitar guy lauding a piano part! It is what makes the song stand out. In the following song, 'I Am Not Alone' it is the surprise of the harmony vocals and again the rich arrangement that follows in the outro. This duo did not go over one night of ice and kept working on its songs to make them richer and better. In that influences from the 70s shine through and not just indie rock from the 90s. As such Hey Pony presents the best of several worlds. I won't call some parts symphonic rock but certain elements from bands like Led Zeppelin and Yes can be found in the swirling sound of a keyboard.

It is these surprises that make Hey Pony such an attractive album to listen to, To think the two just started out writing a few songs together, recorded them as demos before the songs started to take on a life of their own, demanding more effort and time. In 2026 we know why this time and effort was all worth it.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Hey Pony here:

https://heypony.bandcamp.com/album/hey-pony 

2026, week 36. 10 singles (2)

The days are getting frighteningly shorter, as they do once we've reached September. Only 17 days before the sun crosses the equator, going south. There's always music, no matter what. So here are ten singles, varied as always. Enjoy!

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.

The Hockey Song EP. Miss Georgia Peach 

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.

Closer To The Water. Caution Bomb

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.

Don't Say A Word. Blood Red Shoes

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-Mary 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!

The Fountain. DIIV

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.

Wonder Woman. Kurt Baker

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.

Fade. Soft Science

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.

Marianne. Fontaines D.C.

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.

High Priestess. Brennan Wedl

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.

Sensational. Wishy

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