2026, week 44. 10 singles

Today I do not feel like writing a lot more. Enjoy this new selection of recent singles.

The Witch. Soraia 

The Sonics' 'The Witch' is a part of the famous 'Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968'. I only know the four cd expanded version from the 1990s. That invigorating compilation containing (somewhat) famous songs from the era and a lot of obscure 7" from even more obscure bands. Bands that played and practised in the garages of their parents. Hence the name garagerock. Soraia is a garage rock band from Philadelphia in the 2020s and decided to make its own rendition of The Witch. The band has familiarised itself with the original but gave it its own twist. The options 2020s recording technique offer makes the sound twice as big, at least. The result is an exciting rendition, that is even wilder than the original. Singer ZouZou Mansour squeals as if she's on the pile with flames licking at her feet, making The Witch extremely convincing. 

Brothers At The Wheel. Caulbearers

Manchester, England, England's Caulbearers return to the blog after four years with a single of its new album 'Come Back Home', released on 30 October. I know that not all music Caulbearers makes, is made for my ears. Brothers At The Wheel is though. This six minutes plus song combines a laidback The Stone Roses rhythm with a slow funky guitar, some jazzy sounds and an indie style of singing. Add to that a The Beatles pop feel via Field Music rhythms and here you are with Brothers At The Wheel. There is an awful lot happening in this single and it's all good. Damien Mahoney sings, again, with Ruth Blake and together they make the song sparkle and let the instruments do the rest. Brothers At The Wheel is an as intriguing as it is an interesting song.

I Am Bird. Lady Overdrive

Lady Overdrive is artist Una Jongenelis, who also writes music. Her debut single is a dark and elementary track in which she battles not only her own demons but also those of her deceased grandmother. Lady Overdrive's song is punky in a post punk and garage way. The sound is dry and bare, until I Am Bird is expanded with additional instruments like e.g. an electric lead guitar. The start is an acoustic guitar, before a weird sound, bass and drums announce the singing part. There is some likeness to Indian Askin. And not only because of the "down, down, down" part. The drive and the feel of the song lead to the comparison. As Indian Askin is one of my favourite Dutch bands of the past ten years, I'm fine with it. Lady Overdrive finds the right voice to distinguish herself from other new acts, making I Am Bird a great introduction to her work.

Spirit In My House. Palmyra Delran & The Doppel Gang

This is a Joey Ramone solo track covered by Palmyra Delran & The Doppel Gang. They were invited to play at a Joey Ramone tribute evening and decided to cover a song. Now recently, I wrote on Cream and especially its song 'N.S.U.' The beginning of the verse has quite some likeness. Where Cream bursts  into "ah-ah-ah" Spirit In My House takes another route with a great chorus. Just listen how this band sings together. It may even trump the ah-ha part of Cream. Only in June Palmyra Delran debuted on this blog along side Dan Miraldi in 'Magic In The Air'. Today with a nice punk cover. It's time I get to learn what Palmyra Delran & The Doppel Gang themselves are about. This  track is absolute top.

Miss You Girl. Ape Hangers

At the end of next month Ape Hangers' new album will be released. And listening to the enormous jolt of energy the band shares through its single Miss You Girl, a whole album may be more than I can handle. In other words, this is a great rock track. The band opens with a huge intro before the verse opens up. The sound is big and loud. The guitars and drums drive everything but do mind that Hammond that comes in at all the right moments. It's easily overlooked in the all compassing rock but you can hear it seep through the cracks of Miss You Girl, to share its warmth with you. If one thing is made clear though, the singer is missing his girl alright. Miss You Girl sure makes me very curious to hear 'Ape Hangers II' next month.

Getting Sober. Spike Fuck

I never bought a T.Rex album but do have a few of the band's later singles like '20th Century Boy' and 'Solid Gold Easy Action', when it's heyday was already over. Enter Spike Fuck in 2026. I won't say it is a T.Rex rip off but I am reminded immediately of a song like 'Get It On'. And why not? That kind of rhythm works. Spike Fuck is a new name to this blog and recently released his debut album, 'Evidence'. The Melbourne, Australia musician has a whole story behind him. It took ten years to follow up on a debut EP. This song's title may say it all. The song is bluesy rock with modern instruments involved. The mood is sweaty and warm. The singer is driven forward with a hellhound or two on his trail. The good news is Spike Fuck makes it to the other side in one piece.

Queens. Grumpy

"Everyone thinks we are in love, but we are only practising kissing". Just a surprising sentence from Grumpy's new single Queens. The song is a slow, albeit alternative ballad. Clocking in at almost six and a half minutes, the song is an example of restraint with a modest release towards the end. Grumpy can be found with two previous singles on this blog. In my previous review, of 'Lonely Ride', I wrote that I had the impression Grumpy could not make up its mind. Lyrically that certainly is the case once again. The song starts with just a piano playing oh so slow notes. Almost like one of these modern classical piano albums, an acoustic guitar joins in, strumming just as slowly. When an electric guitar and percussion join the song as such does not change as much, as the mood of the song becomes more intense, with Grumpy working towards a beautiful finale. Mind made up, is my best guess.

On My Knees. RubinCarter

Following up on his EP 'Still In The Race', spring 2026, RubinCarter follows up with a new single that hangs somewhere in between indie and pop. The verses are somewhat harder to follow, the choruses free flowing and full of pop followed by a golden guitar part leading up to the next verse. The guitar solo's fire later on comes as a surprise. With this RubinCarter steps into the footsteps of Dutch bands like Darryl Ann and Sunday Sun and a host of bands from the U.K. and U.S. With Queen's Pleasure playing its final shows this fall, the spotlight can be put in full on RubinCarter in whose members you can recognise members from the aforementioned band. Sal Rubinstein is, soon was, its drummer. In On My Knees an own sound may be missing, the song works quite well. If anything, On My Knees sounds promising for the future.

Hurricane Bruise. Fionn Regan

Another new name this week. The blame must be all mine, as Fionn Regan will release his eighth album in January, called 'Berlin, Berlin'. Stemming from Ireland, the artist wanted to release songs that should be "something minimal". Mission succeeded, at least based on Hurricane Bruise. What you can hear are intricately played guitars and a double tracked vocal with enough reverb on it to simulate a large bathroom. It results in a singer-songwriter ballad that sounds as smooth as it is beautiful. I don't want to use more words, as you should go and listen to the song itself. Hearing is believing.

 

Vacuum. Tommy LeFroy

The final song this week is an alternative folk song. Tommy LeFroy is not a singer/artist but the duo Wynter Bethel and Tessa Mouzourakis. They worked six years on honing their skills and perfect the songs on the duo's debut album 'The Precariat' that was released on 23 October. Vacuum is an alternative track with folk in the background. Vacuum opens with a similar note as 'Sex On Fire' but immediately goes its own way. The electric guitar is played softly and has a treatment that makes it almost sound like atmospherics. A second guitar (or the strings caught with a separate microphone) is strumming tightly and muted. Wynter and Mouzourakis are harmonising in the vocals. When the band comes in for the chorus, Vacuum changes into an alternative rock track. It all ends with near a capella singing. Is Vacuum special? No, for that it's too familiar in sound and approach. The song is certainly good enough to attract attention.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

Cream and The Doors live on CD

Through the years I've built up a substantive record collection. This will not come as a surprise for those following this blog. A result of having so many records is that (once) new additions sort of fade from memory and can easily remain hidden inside that collection for years, even decades.

To change this somewhat and not return to old time favourites or chasing new releases for this blog the whole of the time, I've decided to pull out an LP or CD from the collection and put it on without looking at the artwork and label. Quite often it works. Do I recognise the music? That answer is sometimes no, but in general the answer is yes. Do I like what I hear? That answer is more often yes than no and even better than at the time for some albums.

Recently, something very coincidental happened. I consecutively pulled out two live CDs. There were more similarities. I did not like the CDs really after I bought them. Both are from bands that were active about the same time, Cream 1966-1969, The Doors 1965-1971 (with Jim Morrison). Both bands caught my attention right when or soon after I got my first Radio Veronica Top 40 leaflet in October 1968. 'White Room' for Cream and 'Hello, I Love You' and 'Touch Me' for The Doors. So, what happened during the two listening sessions?

What has altered, is that I liked both albums in 2026. They are 'Live Cream' and 'Absolutely Live' both from 1970. Up front, I have never become a true Cream fan, where I became a truly deep The Doors fan from the early 1990s onwards. Because of the Oliver Stone movie 'The Doors'? Yes, that was the moment I took out all my LPs once more. I do not have a favourite Cream album, but dote on 'L.A. Woman', one of the best albums ever made.

On 'Live Cream' the band shows what a live jam band it was. A powerful b-side of two minutes something, 'N.S.U.', is transformed into a 10 minutes plus monster. Is it good? The short version of my conclusion is, it is far better than I once thought, because it is so powerful. Live the band is on fire, certainly, but an edit would have done the song good. It is more a thing of you should have been there, then essential to listen to at home. Fact is, it did not turn me off, where it did that in the 1990s when I bought the CD at a discount or second hand. The truth is that the isolated solo themes Clapton plays are simply not that interesting, (BTW, N.S.U. is not the German car but stands for "non-specific urethritis, a common type of sexually transmitted infection", source Wikipedia.) That Bruce is off on his own planet is what makes the song more interesting. Baker keeps it together, while doing his own thing as well. It is a miracle how they all keep time. The following three songs are all this long drawn out. It seems easier to jam on a blues theme then on the self-penned Jack Bruce music. This makes it far easier to listen to. The final track is not live at all, but a studio recording called 'Lawdy Mama', that obviously was later transformed into 'Strange Brew'. And yes, I recognised 'N.S.U.' in the first two seconds.

I can't claim that for 'Absolutely Live', as it starts with a venue announcement that the people in Philadelphia have to take their seats, as otherwise the show will not start. Should it have started with 'Who Do You Love' instead, the organ sound of Ray Manzarek would have given it away immediately. Which album it was, was harder to determine, as I own a few of the later live releases also, although I stopped buying them after some time. I would like to buy the "Matrix", but it is too expensive to my taste.

I taped 'Absolutely Live' from a friend and flat mate in my student years. What did me in was 'The Celebration Of The Lizard'. It still does, as it is not my favourite The Doors music. The rest is super though. Yes, The Doors did a lot of live jams also, a bit less on this album though, but it always seemed to go somewhere. Comparing The Doors' jams to Cream's 'N.S.U.', for me the latter simply lacks clarity and direction. Next to that, The Doors had the better composers in it. The average The Doors track is simply better that Cream's. A few Cream songs are absolute top. The Doors have many songs that fit right under their absolute top songs. Cream not that many.

The question had Bruce and Baker not fought that much, would the band have developed further?, will never be answered. But I doubt it. For me, it is often the U.K. bands that win out on U.S. ones. Here it is definitely the other way around. The Doors grew beyond its live reputation. The songs stood out and several may live for ever. With Cream people still point to the great live shows, while the songs are definitely fading away. So will its live reputation, when people who were there have left this world. The reunion shows in the 00s more or less underscores this. The Doors are immortalised because Jim Morrison joined the 27 club, yes, but it already had the songs to make this possible.

The proud winner of this coincidental contest is: The Doors.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

 

Fudge. Michael Kiwanuka

The news that Michael Kiwanuka shared before the release of his new album Fudge is devastating. I can only hope that he is able to make a recovery allowing him to have a decent life and on top of that be able to work as a musician. Strength and courage, Mr. Kiwanuka.

This horrible news does not make it easier to write a review of his fifth album, Fudge. Let me start with my travels with Michael Kiwanuka.

His first album, was lent to me by Hans from his commercial cd, video and dvd lending shop in Leiden. It came highly recommended, but I remember not finding my way into the album and returned it without copying it. Because of this experience I decided to ignore his second album. But then I did something very illogical. Needing a third album for a three CDs for €25,= discount, I picked up 'Kiwanuka'. It turned out to be my favourite of the three albums. From there I bought 'Love & Hate' at a discount immediately as well.

'Small Changes' was the next album I bought and here we are with Fudge. Having listened to the album extensively in the past days, I'm experiencing, as far as my recollection is accurate, a renewed 'Home Again' moment. Fudge is not speaking to me like the other three albums do. The album is less exciting, less interesting; or so I think at this point in time.

Things are not the same as in 2012. I have come to love Michael Kiwanuka's warm voice and that is of course all over Fudge, making me more receptive to his music than when I heard it for the first time. It also makes me listen more receptive to the music as well. It is here that I hear on the one hand the quality of the body of work but also that it is more of the same of what came before. The warmth of the voice and the music are undeniably there. 'Just Another Moment' expands in a way that Michael Kiwanuka is so good at. It may well be the best song on Fudge. It gives me hope to find my way into the album anyway.

Am I listening too critically? Perhaps, but that is what a critic should do. For now I've decided to let Fudge hang in the balance and come back to it. I just don't really know what to think of it yet.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Fudge here:

https://officialmichaelkiwanuka.bandcamp.com/album/fudge 

Role Model Hermit. mary in the junkyard

Het debuutalbum van de Britse band mary in the junkyard komt voor mij echt uit het niets, maar wat hebben deze jonge honden uit Londen een bijzonder klinkend, veelzijdig en aansprekend album afgeleverd.

Bij het beluisteren van de openingstrack van Role Model Hermit van mary in the junkyard twijfelde ik nog wat, maar hierna had de band uit Londen me snel te pakken. De leden van de Britse band zijn nog piepjong, maar ze slagen erin om een origineel geluid te creëren en het is een geluid dat de fantasie uitvoerig prikkelt. Het is misschien even wennen aan de stem van Clari Freeman-Taylor en ook de mix van invloeden op het album is zeker niet alledaags, maar mary in the junkyard heeft een album gemaakt dat je blijft verrassen en dat zich ondertussen steeds genadelozer opdringt. Midden in de zomer een album uitbrengen is misschien niet heel handig, maar deze band is een blijvertje.

Er verschenen in juli niet heel veel nieuwe albums en dat heeft ook voordelen. Ook albums van wat minder bekende bands en muzikanten maken nu een redelijke kans om ontdekt te worden en hetzelfde geldt voor albums die je bij voorkeur een paar keer moet horen voor je ze op de juiste waarde kunt schatten. Het gaat allebei op voor Role Model Hermit van de Britse band mary in the junkyard (geen hoofdletters). 

De basis voor de Britse band werd gelegd toen gitariste en zangeres Clari Freeman-Taylor en violiste en bassiste Saya Barbaglia elkaar op 14-jarige leeftijd tegen het lijf liepen tijdens een zomerkamp voor jongeren met interesse in het spelen van klassieke muziek. Later werd drummer David Addison toegevoegd en was mary in the junkyard compleet. De leden van de band zijn volgens mij nog altijd onder de twintig, maar met Role Model Hermit ligt er een knap debuutalbum. 

Ik liet hierboven al doorschemeren dat het een album is dat je eigenlijk een paar keer moet horen voor je er een goed oordeel over kunt vormen. Dat zal niet voor iedereen gelden, maar ik moest zelf wennen aan de muziek van de band uit Londen. Dat ligt voor een deel aan de jonge en soms ook wat onvaste stem van Clari Freeman-Taylor, maar ook in muzikaal opzicht maakt mary in the junkyard muziek die wat mij betreft om enige gewenning vraagt. 

Zeker in de openingstrack van het debuutalbum van de Britse band wist de stem van Clari Freeman-Taylor me niet direct te overtuigen. Sinds de albums van Big Thief ben ik wel gewend aan dit soort stemmen, maar de zang op Role Model Hermit vond ik bij de eerste kennismaking wel erg meisjesachtig. 

De openingstrack is ook in muzikaal opzicht overigens van het uitdagende soort. Atypisch drumwerk wordt gecombineerd met complexe gitaarlijnen en nogal onconventioneel gitaarspel, wat een bijzondere track oplevert. Het is een track die ervoor kan zorgen dat luisteraars afhaken, maar dat zou zonde zijn. 

De muziek van mary in the junkyard klinkt in de tweede track, het sterke Blood, een stuk conventioneler met spannende gitaarlijnen en een mooie basis van bas en drums. Ook de zang van Clari Freeman-Taylor vind ik in de tweede track een stuk sterker, al geeft haar stem de muziek van de band absoluut een bijzonder geluid. 

Je hoort goed dat de leden van de band al op jonge leeftijd zijn begonnen met het bespelen van een instrument, want de muziek op Role Model Hermit is vaak complexer dan die van de meeste startende bands. De muziek van mary in the junkyard is bovendien verrassend veelzijdig. 

De songs van de band passen met enige fantasie allemaal in het hokje indierock, maar de band uit Londen bestrijkt binnen dit hokje een breed palet en schuift ook op richting folk(rock), postrock en psychedelica en daar blijft het niet bij. De veelzijdigheid hoor je ook in de stem van Clari Freeman-Taylor, die goed tot zijn recht komt in zang die neigt naar spoken word, maar ook ruw uit kan halen of lieflijk kan klinken. 

Role Model Hermit bevat een aantal wat lastiger te doorgronden songs, maar de band kan ook overweg met lekker toegankelijk klinkende songs. Het zijn songs die zijn te plaatsen binnen het kwadrant Big Thief – Wolf Alice – Wet Leg – Black Country, New Road, maar met vergelijken doe je de bijzondere muziek van de band te kort. 

Het album klinkt bij vlagen overigens behoorlijk lo-fi, maar bij beluistering met de koptelefoon hoor je dat de onder andere van Olivia Dean bekende Oli Bayston wel degelijk veel aandacht heeft besteed aan de productie van dit bijzondere album.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Role Model Hermit hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://maryinthejunkyard.bandcamp.com/album/role-model-hermit 

Odd Numb3rs And Slanted Rhymes. Gary Calamar

Reading Gary Calamar's Wikipedia page gives me the impression being presented with a modern day uomo universale. From a volunteer at a radio station filing cds, to DJ, music supervisor of motion pictures and series, record store owner, musician and a lot more. With Odd Numb3rs And Slanted Rhymes Calamar bundles the many singles he's released in the past few decades and adds a few new songs to the whole.

No, Calamar is not the best singer I've ever heard, but his deadpan delivery fits his music perfectly. This music spans the decades of his life in which he obviously soaked up the various forms of pop music and turned that into his own musical world. His voice, at times assisted by background vocals, surfs over the pop music, making a whole that just works. Music that bubbles, not explodes, music to listen to yet feel alive with.

Opening song 'The Prince of Pico Boulevard' and second song 'Who Are We Gonna Be Today?' (with Robyn Hitchcock) are statements on that soaking up. I have no doubt that there are more references in them to other songs and albums in the texts that I am able to recognise. Musically, this goes for the whole album. 1960s and 70s reference are abound. Some The Beatles, some The Byrds and far more.

It also means that not much more words are needed to single Odd Numb3rs And Slanted Rhymes out. From beginning to end this is a pleasant album to listen to. Gary Calamar does a lot right here, making for some great, albeit nostalgic listening.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Odd Numb3rs And Slanted Rhymes here:

https://bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com/album/odd-numb3rs-and-slanted-rhymes