Jammah Tammah. Jammah Tammah

Some time ago, I received an email about the band Jammah Tammah, forgot about it and now have to fit the news into the heavy release schedule before the summer break. But believe me, it is worth it to do so. I almost became consistent, as Jammah Tammah passed me by for 99.5% in the time it was active (1991 - 2003), because it was only the name that rang a faint bell, nothing more.

Reading the Wikipedia page of the band, which isn't up to date, it is clear that what was and is Jammah Tammah is not an easy answer. Fact is the band started in 1991 around singer Eddy Huizing, formerly of The Boegies, another 99.5% band for me, and Thuur Caris and focused on playing ska, rocksteady and mix it with European polka and punk. The drummer was an Atari machine! After many changes in the line up the band folded in 2003, although there are still former members working under the name Jammah Tammah Groove Experience since the 2010s.

Come 2026, and here is a live compilation album or so it often seems. It is not. It's far more complex. I'll get back to that. What you hear, is a complete dam burst of energy released through the decades, from the early 90s right to the mid 20s and all from a band that does not exist any more. I'll get back to that later also.

First, the music. Kicking off the album is a song called 'Black Monster'. It sounds like a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention track that is going completely off the rails, something Zappa would never have allowed under any circumstances on penalty of ostracisation from the band. Not Jammah Tammah, the punk attitude is showing through for one 100%. The copper is everywhere, the rhythm absolutely leading, the seeming chaos is everywhere. The ska element ever more present. The secret is it is all under control, as this music really works. I can see Eddy (Piepke-Speedy-Mousie) Huizing bouncing across a stage in my mind's eye energising stages every time he climbs on one.

When the band started in 1991, ska, and especially the English Two-Tone version, was a thing of the past for some years already. All the bands had folded by that year. Enter Jammah Tammah. The band released three albums at the time. It must have been somewhere around that period, I came across the name but never heard any music, as far as I can remember.

When some of the band members decided to have the records on the digital platforms in 2023, they found a host of recordings that were never used, mostly of poorer quality. This is a relative comment. The reason these songs were never released at the time, is that the band always recorded live, to capture the energy. Somehow, the band never managed to record these songs without too many mistakes being made. The band couldn't fix at the time, so discarded the recordings. This led to a cunning plan.

What we hear on this album is a recreation of the past. Nearly all original members recorded their parts a new and separate from each other. That is what we hear today and despite this new version, the energy is captured as if this is a live recording. The only practical problem Jammah Tammah encountered was that singer Eddy Huizing, in this phase of his life, does not want to be associated with his past lyrics any more.  Enter modern technicalities. With the same sort of software programme Peter Jackson used to create 'Get Back', The Beatles documentary, Huizing's vocals were isolated from the recordings and mixed over the new recordings, including from real live recordings, audience and all. The result is as if the listener is in a venue listening to Jammah Tammah going at it. Do expect sudden fade outs but that takes nothing away from the fun had by all.

It may well have been, that I would not have liked the original recordings, as I wasn't into this kind of music. There is however a Gruppo Sportivo link every once in a while, so who knows what the answer would have been? Fact is, I never have learned of Jammah Tammah's (ja maar, toe maar in Groninger dialect) music at the time. Today I have and 'Jammah Tammah' is one huge party, from beginning to end. It's 2026 and it's never too late to get to know a new band. Wow!, is the word here.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Roses. Widowspeak

Of course, checking the past of this blog, I find that Erwin Zijleman beat me to a Widowspeak album review. His love for female singers precedes mine by something like two decades. With 'Plum' Widowspeak came into my life in 2020, undoubtedly in the time of the second lockdown. The music resonated within me immediately. My second album, Widowspeak's sixth, 'The Jacket' was not that good in my ears. Now, four years later, Roses claims a spot just like 'Plum' did six years ago.

There are two versions of reception of 'Roses'. The first is on a modest level of sound. Believe me, there is far less to enjoy, as the second version is to play it somewhat louder on a headset and all of a sudden a host of details unfold themselves. 'Roses' proves to be a very, very rich album with a host of guitar parts that are everywhere my ears can cope with.

Widowspeak formed in Brooklyn, NYC in 2010. Through the years only guitarist and vocalist Molly Hamilton and guitarist Robert Earl Thomas, a married couple, remained of the original four piece. On 'Roses' it is Molly Hamilton who creates a dreamy kind of pop music with her somewhat sleepy sounding vocal delivery. The music may have some elements of dreampop, but equal parts consist of indie, roots and French sigh girls. All together this creates a near magical mix of alternative pop music that goes down really well with this listener.

Photo: Alexa Viscious

The album starts with one of the more solid numbers, 'The Hook'. As far as I'm concerned, this title describes the situation quite well. I'm hooked alright after listening to 'The Hook'. The song does what a million other songs have done in the past. A guitar that plays some slow solo notes, a piano here and there playing some slow notes as well, a warm Hammond closing everything that was left open in the crooks and crannies of the mix. Molly Hamilton overdubs her vocals in all the right places. Out comes this Americana-indie track that sounds as warm (the music) and dreamy (vocals) as can be. When in the next song, 'No Driver, I'm remembered of my favourite Hazeldine album, 'Digging You Up', I'm sold, hook, line and sinker.

In the rest of the albums, the songs remain warm and rich. Guitars are everywhere, including a pedal steel here and there, creating a great mode, that in a way is the same mood but it's never enough. On Roses there simply is never enough of a good thing. Recorded on the Greek island Hydra with the band's touring members Willy Muse, John Andrews, and Noah Bond, in January and fine tuned at home in Brooklyn, the band is ready to take on the world once again. To think that the members of a band this good, have regular day jobs to sustain themselves, makes it something close to a miracle that we are able to hear Roses. I know, it's not unique, yet it gives you pause that making great music does not assure you an income sufficient to live off. It must be the product of total dedication to the muse that houses within the Widowspeak duo.

So let's be grateful for the present Roses is. Widowspeak has delivered an album of great beauty.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Roses here:

https://widowspeak.bandcamp.com/album/roses 

The Sky Knows I Exist. Naaz

Het in alle opzichten wonderschone debuutalbum van Naaz vierde eerder dit jaar alweer de derde verjaardag en krijgt deze week gezelschap van The Sky Knows I Exist, dat in alle opzichten een typisch Naaz-album is.

Aan het eind van 2023 twijfelde ik geen moment over het album dat mijn jaarlijstje zou aanvoeren. Never Have I Ever van Naaz wist op dat moment al een jaar te betoveren en te ontroeren, hoe vaak ik ook naar het album luisterde. Sindsdien zag ik Naaz meerdere keren live, wat het verlangen naar haar tweede album aanwakkerde. Dat tweede album is verschenen en wat is The Sky Knows I Exist een prachtig album. Het is een album waarop Naaz haar unieke geluid nog wat verder heeft doorontwikkeld. The Sky Knows I Exist klinkt direct als een Naaz album, maar wederom heeft ze haar grenzen verlegd en laat ze nog maar eens horen hoe groot en bijzonder haar talent is.

De Nederlands-Koerdische muzikante Naaz behoort wat mij betreft tot het allerbeste dat de Nederlandse popmuziek te bieden heeft. Dat was al zo toen ze in 2018 haar eerste EP Bits of Naaz uitbracht en dat was nog steeds zo toen ze in 2023 haar debuutalbum Never Have I Ever afleverde. 

Voor de release van dat debuutalbum keerde Naaz de muziekwereld enkele jaren de rug toe na een aantal nare ervaringen, maar gelukkig kroop het bloed waar het niet gaan kon en maakte ze met Never Have I Ever een van de mooiste, een van de meest persoonlijke en een van de meest indringende albums van de afgelopen jaren. 

Sinds haar terugkeer in de muziek doet Naaz alles zelf en dat kan alle kanten op. Ze organiseerde zelf haar comebackconcert in Carré, trad op met een aantal orkesten, kletste zichzelf het voorprogramma van Lana Del Rey in, begon aan een boek en kondigde onlangs aan dat ze met opera aan de slag gaat. Gelukkig is ze ook haar liefde voor indiepop niet verloren, wat de afgelopen jaren indrukwekkende concerten opleverde en nu de release van haar tweede album The Sky Knows I Exist, dat de komende tijd ook op een aantal podia zal worden vertolkt. 

Het vinyl van The Sky Knows I Exist werd gisteren keurig op de dag van de release afgeleverd en sindsdien ben ik in de ban van het tweede album van Naaz. Iedereen die de tegenwoordig in Amsterdam woonachtige muzikante volgt, kent al een aantal van de tien songs op The Sky Knows I Exist. Het zijn songs die laten horen dat Naaz de afgelopen jaren wat dichter tegen de indiepop aan is gekropen, maar het is wel indiepop die het unieke stempel van Naaz bevat. 

De Nederlands-Koerdische muzikante vertolkte op Never Have I Ever twee songs in het Koerdisch en dit waren de afgelopen jaren indrukwekkende hoogtepunten tijdens haar concerten. Op The Sky Knows I Exist kiest Naaz volledig voor het Engels, maar haar songs blijven in alle opzichten onderscheidend. 

Dat ligt voor een belangrijk deel aan de stem van Naaz en aan haar manier van zingen. Ook op The Sky Knows I Exist is de zang van Naaz weer mooi en bijzonder en bovendien verrassend divers. De zang op het album zit vol gevoel, maar durft ook te experimenteren. Het is zang die mij weer direct wist te raken, waardoor The Sky Knows I Exist makkelijk boven de andere albums van het moment uitstijgt. 

Naaz staat bekend om haar zeer persoonlijke teksten en deze zijn ook weer te horen op haar nieuwe album, dat net als Never Have I Ever een intiem album is. Naaz durft niet alleen te experimenteren met haar stem, maar ook met de muziek op haar nieuwe album. Eerder gaf ik aan dat de Amsterdamse muzikante wat is opgeschoven richting indiepop, maar het is wel indiepop die overloopt van avontuur. 

Ik vind het nog lastig of zelfs onmogelijk om The Sky Knows I Exist te vergelijken met Never Have I Ever, want het album dat in 2023 mijn jaarlijstje aanvoerde is me zo ongelooflijk dierbaar. Ook de eerste kennismaking met het tweede album van Naaz is me echter uitstekend bevallen. 

De zowel door indiepop als indiefolk beïnvloede songs op het album zijn stuk voor stuk typische Naaz songs en het zijn songs met een bijzondere energie en een enorme intensiteit. Naaz heeft inmiddels een flinke groep fanatieke fans, maar een muzikante van haar niveau verdient een nog veel groter publiek. Ik keek met torenhoge verwachtingen uit naar dit album en Naaz heeft me wederom niet teleurgesteld.

Erwin Zijleman

 

The Sky Knows I Exist is verkrijgbaar via haar website: https://www.bitsofnaaz.com. 

POM live. Ekko, Utrecht, Friday 5 June 2026 with Fit

Photo: WdN-vdB

In my review of the new POM album last week I mentioned how much better and more consistent the band had become in the past two years. 'Enlightened, Baby' belies everything that "difficult second album" is often said to be. How does this translate into a live situation?

That answer is so easy to give as one word suffices: growth. Compared to the show in Rotown in December 2023 POM has gone from a band that played its debut record live in a convincing and entertaining way (plus some more chaotic but enthusiastic, perhaps unplanned encores) to a band that owned its repertoire and used it as a starting point. With new guitarist Rosa Kiki, who replaced Joy Kunst last year, in the line up, the band went for it. The set started off in a moderate way and song for song the sound was broader, louder, better, to explode towards the end into an orgiastic music fest. Without control over the songs and playing skills getting lost in the enthusiasm. Breaks were executed and harmonies sung perfectly.

One thing stood out in the mix. The bass was far more audible than at average shows and that dry, pumping sound made the show almost funky. Up front though Liza Kim van As has turned from the singer into the front lady of POM. There is no doubt who draws most of the attention to herself, who is living the role of singer. In a tight fitting dress, she was showing the world to be proud of who she is, pink hair and all. Focusing only on Van As would take away from the whole. Drummer Justin is great and a self-assured rhythm master, the two guitarists weave their parts perfectly, found weird guitar sounds to share with us and play attractive solo parts. The whole has blended perfectly and that is where it showed the band has set a perfect next step in its career. It is ready for a next step, just like the album already showed.

Besides, when a band can afford to not play the most energetic single from it debut album, 'Exoskeleton', and totally get away with that, it must know its on the right course.

Photo: WdN-vdB

Fit from Utrecht is also a band on Mattan Records and has released only a few songs so far. in a reviews I compared it for example to Maxïmo Park. Well, I was in for a surprise. The band on stage and what I had heard on record, somehow do not add up. The unleashed energy was enough to warm up a whole city and infect all present. The band has two guitarists, yet all the solos were played by the singer on a small synth in front of him. That made it very different from most bands I'd ever seen. Fit was happy to be on this stage and it showed. They were going for it and the audience started rooting for Fit more and more. At some point I was wondering if Fit would eclipse POM, as the headlining band still had to play. That fear was laid aside easily by POM.

Near the end of the set, I was struck by a feeling that I had never had before. Having grown up partly in a Noord-Brabant village, I had missed out on live music in small(er) venues entirely. Fit gave me the impression of what it could have been like to attend a the Undertones show in 1979 or something. It was a very authentic feeling and I guess a big compliment to a band, when all is said and done, I barely know in 2026.

That feeling of energy live and capturing it on record? When I played the POM LP today, I missed some of that energy as well. It will take some time to get used to the album again, I'm afraid.

POM and Fit both made a great impression on me. Bigger stages ought to be awaiting them.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

2026, week 23, 10 singles (2)

With the weather switched to position erratic, sun, wind, rain, lots of rain, cloudy, back to sun, etc., it is easy to make amends and do two rounds of singles this week. You'll find no huge names this week but certainly some WoNoBlog favourites of the past few years and several new names. Musically, it is a nice mix as well, like open your ears widely to truly listen to softer songs, as cover your ears fast should you be partial to not liking postpunk. Either way it's here, and all in between, enjoy!

Alone EP. Carly Hann

Today, Carly Hann makes her debut on this blog with her EP Alone. She is a totally new name to me, so I looked a little beyond just listening to her beautiful dreampop songs. She was formerly known as Carly Holt until she married The 1975's guitarist Adam Hann, who also produced her debut EP. She hails from Canada. She musically first drew attention with her cover version of said band's 'About You' and now presents her own music. That music starts with an acoustic guitar. The songs on Alone can be played on the beach, in a living room or the front garden entertaining neighbours during the next pandemic. Around her soft, dreamy and relaxed voice and the guitar, other instruments join, creating a dreamy atmosphere. In the case of opening and title track 'Alone' that mood is slowly but surely expanded on and when in the bridge drums join the song, it turns into a wall of sound. Lana del Rey is not far off, but Carly Hann does keep it as her own song. 'Breathe' starts as someone trying to play piano but not really certain (s)he's capable of doing so, before it turns into a song anyway, shedding that uncertainty immediately. 'Can't Shake This Feeling' is built around the acoustic guitar once again. This time strings come in for accompaniment. 'She Got' is the game changer. An electric guitar plays fast notes and the drums play an erratic, somewhat unusual rhythm. Carly Hann remains herself and draws the song into a dreamy state anyway. Also pay attention to that violin that plays a distinctive role in the song, making it far beyond the average dreampop song. Carly Hann may have started her career piggybacking her husband's career, she's very much her own talent on Alone. 

De lytse oarloch fan Japie Ossefet. Zea

Een Rotterdams verhaal in het Fries. Het had het verhaal van mijn vader en zijn gezin kunnen zijn. Als ik goed reken is Max of zoals de bijnaam die zijn moeder hem gaf, Japie Ossefet, net zo oud als wijlen mijn oom Ben. Max is Max van Broekhoven een import Fries, zoals Max' vader of grootvader aan de achternaam te zien een import Rotterdammer uit Brabant was. Het verhaal is opgetekend in een bejaardentehuis in Heerenveen door toenmalig Dichter des Vaderlands Tsead Bruinja, muzikant Arnold de Boer a.k.a. Zea en fotografe Rosa van Ederen,.Samen tekenden zij in 2020 levensverhalen op. In totaal 11 in 11 verschillende tehuizen. Het oorlogsverhaal van Max werd op muziek gezet door Zea. Mijn vader was 7 tot 12 in de oorlog. Voor hem was het een groot avontuur, met allerlei spannende zaken die in normale tijden nooit hadden gemogen. De meer volwassen verhalen kwamen van mijn tantes en hun echtgenoten, nu allen overleden. Mijn oudste oom was bij een razzia opgepakt en in een cementfabriek in Leimen bij Heidelberg te werk gesteld, maar wel met een Duitse vrouw thuisgekomen. Dat werkte niet heel goed in net bevrijd Nederland. Al hun verhalen samen maken ongeveer het verhaal van Japie Ossefet, zonder hulp aan onderduikers, dat wel. Zea heeft het als een vroege Bob Dylan op muziek gezet en stelt het nummer nu beschikbaar voor een goed doel, ter ondersteuning van kunstenaars in Beiroet, genaamd Beit Aam (https://linktr.ee/Beit.aam). Het nummer kun je hier aanschaffen voor €1,50: https://zeamusic.bandcamp.com/track/de-lytse-oarloch-fan-japie-ossefet. Doen!

Plovdiv. Tramhaus 

Tramhaus in 2026 is a band that has been around half the world, that is able to premiere its new single on a Seattle radio station and receives reviews from internationally renowned websites. So, what can I add to all this? To start a personal note. In 2025 I visited Plovdiv on a 43 degrees Celsius day and, reading the title, wondered how it is possible that Tramhaus first single release from its upcoming new album, Blister' (9 October), is called after the city. The band wrote the song there on a free day, touring Bulgaria and Turkey, in a rehearsal room. I hope they did get a peak at the Roman antiquities in Plovdiv. The song Plovdiv presents a louder and more direct Tramhaus. Through live shows, I was able to see the way the band gelled more and more through the years and Plovdiv is the result. There is less room for subtleties and more for a full band experience. The first verse is the group's community singing, recorded like a church choir in a church with the worst kind of acoustics, before singer Lucas Jansen takes over and explodes in the chorus together with the band. Getting better acquainted with Plovdiv, I notice better that the, lets call it the Nirvana, approach to a song, is still in tact. The erratic subtlety that characterised early Tramhaus songs, has been traded in for blasting. Live it will lead to even more enthusiasm is my guess. After a hesitant start, I'm sold.

Honeydripper. Ruby James

Ruby James returns to the blog with a dirty track that is somewhere between, what exactly? Certainly rock. The dirty guitar soloing gives the song its dirty vibe. There is something dancy in there as well, e.g. in the way of singing and rhythm. Except the song goes off of its rocker as in totally when it approaches the end. That guitar is really going for it. It is all very gritty in a blues kind of way. On top of it all, it's pure sex that is dripping from this record and it is intended that way so I understand. Ruby James wrote Honeydripper with songwriter Kate Vargas. Together they came up with this groove and built the song from there. It's convincing alright. Be on the look out for the album, 'Call It Rock & Roll', from 7 August onwards.

Punch Drunk Love. Personal Trainer

Punch Drunk Love is Personal Trainer as you've never heard it before. More than ever before the band sounds like a band that could be any regular band and it has dropped everything to do with loud electric guitars. In fact, Punch Drunk Love could have been, with a little imagination, a hit for The Kinks in the mid-60s. The band took an acoustic album and playing live in the studio together, as the starting points and that is what the single sounds like. A piano is the leading instrument for most of the song, playing its slow notes. You'll find a violin playing short solos with the guitars only playing accompanying riffs and soft chords. Over it all Willem Smit is singing softly. There's no need to shout at all. I fell in love slowly with album number 1, but in the end never truly found may way around number 2. Number 3, 'Human Assholes' is slated for 4 September. I'm sure we'll hear more in the meantime.

Magic In The Air, feat. Palmyra Delran. Dan Miraldi

"Sometimes you really have to wrestle with songs, but ‘Magic in the Air’ felt pretty effortless", says Dan Miraldi in the accompanying bio to his latest single on the writing process. This is exactly how the song sounds like. Magic In The Air combines pop, rock and a little punk attitude into a song that sounds somehow perfect. That relatively slow riff/solo guitar leading the listener into the song, followed by a mellow mood coming with a glorious, not too warm feel of a summer day. Miraldi manages to get this mood across without giving up on the firm body of the song. Palmyra Delran adds a nice female touch to the whole in both lead and harmony vocals. On top of it all comes this dreamy bridge, making a perfect song even better. Welcome to the blog!

Letting Go. Deardarkhead

An instrumental track somehow is the hardest to write about for me. Not that I analyse lyrics a lot, it is the layer of how vocal melodies interact with the music, where I often focus my attention on. Deardarkhead is a band from New Jersey, formed in 1988, that in 1998 released its only full length album to date, 'Unlock the Valves of Feeling'. Since several EPs saw the light of day, the last one being from 2016. Since its singer left, the band has become an instrumental outfit and listening to Letting Go focusing on extremely melodic instrumental tracks. Guitarist Kevin Harrington leads the pack with a very clear sound, while never overdoing the number of notes he can squeeze in. This is about melody and not about chops and prowess. He is supported by drummer Robert Weiss and bassist James Malizia, The mortar in between is played by guest keyboardist Joe McGinty (The Psychedelic Furs, Nada Surf, Ryan Adams and Deborah Harry), who adds just the right texture. It is this combination of musical facts that make me like Letting go. There will be a full length album, Deardarkhead's second, on 10 July called 'The Pendulum Swings'.

Still Here. High on Stress

In March you may have found High on Stress on this blog for the first time. In my few words on single Over/Through I compared the band to the likes of Gin Blossoms and The Jayhawks. Today, I will go a step further and compare it to a band that I liked a lot more around 1995, Slobberbone. High on Stress has that same level of intensity and just being who and what you are as musician and band. Of course, everything is well thought out and there is a lot of attention being paid to details, that make the song more interesting to listen to. "It goes on and on, on and on, and I'm still here", they sing. Unmistakably true, as Still Here sounds very much alive. This song rocks in a way only, for lack of a better word ,rootsrockers from the U.S. can. Album 'Still Here' is out there for a month already, I notice just now. It's time to take a listen. This title song hits all the right buttons.

Hard Evidence. Ringlets

Ringlets is on tour in Europe and celebrates with the release of this stand alone single. Hard Evidence is not an easy song to digest. Everything is just a little less normal than what is expected from a song. The vocal melody is monotonous in the verses and the accompaniment is stern. The mood is darker. It also is in the chorus, but the mood changes to playful because of the band accompaniment while still being somewhat stern, as the vocals do not join in the playfulness. They remain moody, sang in a deeper and subdued way. The New Zealanders show that their band has a few sides to it. Having listened to Hard Evidence a few times, I notice the song is growing on me. Ringlets reaches the bar it set for itself with the superb album 'The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies)' with ease.

Gonna Be Alright. Chaser

A real 7". It's not exceptional but also far from normal in 2026. (And what bands like The Rolling Stones or Arctic Monkeys charge for one, € 17,99, borders on the absurd.) I don't know what Southern California skatepunkers Chaser charges for theirs. Based on what I'm hearing, things are going to be alright. 'My Promise' is a melodic punk track in the best form as Rancid and The Offspring are capable of. Deep dark and dry drum skins are leading the way for Chaser. This drummer truly leads the way with more rolls, fills and double bass fills than my ears can keep up with. Guitar lines and bass are all all over the place as well, supporting a golden vocal melody. Yes, of course, it all sounds very familiar but who cares when a song is this good. The other side of the 7" is a rendition of Bob Marley & the Wailers' 'Three Little Birds'. As that track was high jacked by 020's fans, I leave it you to find out for yourself. Greetings from 010 supporter,

Wout de Natris - van der Borght