Bad Things Feel Good*. Rowena Wise

Iedereen die twee jaar geleden luisterde naar het debuutalbum van Rowena Wise weet waartoe ze in staat is, maar op haar in augustus verschenen tweede album Bad Things Feel Good* maakt de Australische muzikante nog meer indruk.

Rowena Wise beschikt over een stem die iets met me doet, waardoor ze me twee jaar geleden direct te pakken had met haar debuutalbum Senseless Acts of Beauty. Haar stem klinkt nog veel mooier op dit tweede album Bad Things Feel Good*, waarop Rowena Wise opnieuw folksongs met een indierock vibe maakt. Ook het nieuwe album werd in korte tijd en live opgenomen, wat de songs van Rowena Wise iets ruws geeft. Tegelijkertijd zijn het songs van een bijzondere schoonheid en intimiteit. Die schoonheid komt vooral van de stem van de Australische muzikante, maar ook in muzikaal opzicht maakt Bad Things Feel Good* makkelijk indruk en dat doen ook de zeer persoonlijke songs op dit prachtige album.

De Australische muzikante Rowena Wise bracht iets meer dan twee jaar geleden haar debuutalbum Senseless Acts of Beauty uit. Het is een album dat in Nederland helaas nauwelijks werd opgemerkt, maar ik vind het nog altijd een erg mooi album. Op haar debuutalbum maakt Rowena Wise indruk met songs die zowel invloeden uit de folk als de indierock bevatten. 

Het zijn songs die live werden ingespeeld in de studio, waardoor de muziek op het album lekker ruw klinkt. De inkleuring van de songs op het album is in de meeste songs vrij elementair, wat het bijzondere karakter van Senseless Acts of Beauty verder versterkt en dan is er ook nog eens de mooie en karakteristieke stem van de muzikante uit Melbourne. 

Ik hoorde op het debuutalbum van Rowena Wise af en toe wel wat van een jonge PJ Harvey, waardoor Senseless Acts of Beauty nog wat meer indruk maakte. Desondanks heb ik het album de afgelopen twee jaar nauwelijks meer beluisterd en dat is jammer, want het debuutalbum van Rowena Wise is echt een heel goed album. Op haar tweede album Bad Things Feel Good* (de * is geen typo) heeft Rowena Wise het bijzondere geluid van haar eerste album nog wat verder geperfectioneerd. 

Ook op Bad Things Feel Good* staat de stem van de Australische muzikante centraal en ik heb echt een enorm zwak voor deze stem. Rowena Wise zingt, net zoals zoveel van haar collega’s in de indierock, zacht, maar ze beschikt over een hele mooie en bijzondere stem en stopt veel gevoel in haar zang. Dat hoor je in de net wat stevigere songs op het album, maar je hoort het nog veel beter in de uiterst ingetogen songs, waarin de zang, in ieder geval voor mij, goed is voor kippenvel. 

Bad Things Feel Good* is een heel persoonlijk album over de demonen waarmee Rowena Wise vecht, wat het album voorziet van een wat melancholische sfeer. Op haar debuutalbum slaagde de Australische muzikante erin om een eigen geluid te creëren door de songs live op te nemen en te voorzien van een wat ruw geluid en dat recept is ook gevolgd bij het opnemen van het nieuwe album. 

Het zorgt ervoor dat Bad Things Feel Good* klinkt als een indierock album, terwijl veel songs op het album betrekkelijk ingetogen zijn en absoluut kunnen worden getypeerd als folksongs. Rowena Wise nam de songs op haar nieuwe album in drie dagen op met een ritmesectie en voegde uiteindelijk bijdragen van een beperkt aantal gastmuzikanten toe, waarna producer Rob Muinos, die ook al haar andere muziek produceerde en daarnaast werkte met Julia Jacklin, het album een klein beetje oppoetste. 

Het is de stem van Rowena Wise die in eerste instantie de aandacht trekt, maar ook het gitaarwerk op het album is bijzonder mooi en hetzelfde geldt voor alle subtiele accenten die het geluid op Bad Things Feel Good* verder hebben verrijkt. Op Senseless Acts of Beauty hoorde ik vooral de belofte van Rowena Wise, maar op haar nieuwe album is ze de belofte ver voorbij. 

De songs op Bad Things Feel Good* dringen zich stuk voor stuk genadeloos op en zijn me inmiddels allemaal dierbaar. Objectief bezien doet het tweede album van de muzikante uit Melbourne niet onder voor de beste indie-albums van 2026, maar Australië is ver weg, waardoor het album niet zo makkelijk de aandacht trekt. We zijn afgelopen zomer al enorm verwend met geweldige albums van vrouwelijke muzikanten, maar Bad Things Feel Good* doet er zeker niet voor onder.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Bad Things Feel Good* hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://rowenawise.bandcamp.com/album/bad-things-feel-good 

ZIRP! DIIV

ZIRP! is DIIV's fifth album and all four previous albums can be found on this blog, 'Oshin' (2012), 'Is The Is Are' (2016), 'Deceiver' (2019) and 'Frog In Boiling Water' (2024). As you can see, ZIRP! follows on the previous album in record time. Once again, I took an immediate shine to a new album by DIIV.

Also, once again the music on the latest album is different from what came before. The Cure references are largely gone, the grunge of 'Deceiver', as is the shoegaze of 'Frog In Boiling Water'. It is harder to pin  ZIRP! down easily, as the music is far more diverse. Zachary Cole Smith's voice remains the same of course. Devoid of bass, it reminds me most of Billy Corgan, without that snarling sneer Corgan uses to emphasise his lyrics. The change in DIIV's music is in what happens around Cole Smith's voice. There is quite some electronics involved.

Listen to the intro of 'The Fountain' opening ZIRP!. It's as if the electrical currents connecting the instrument to the recording gear is broken or somehow hindered, making it impossible to be recorded in one piece. This sort of effects return all over the album, creating a darker vibe over the whole. The contrast between Cole Smith's voice and the music is almost shocking in 'Underground', making the album more than the 80s influenced indie rock that may have been the basis when starting work on ZIRP!, before the studio options and effects took over.

The result is that DIIV gets something of Smashing Pumpkins. However, on the one side it is far softer or more precisely, a sound not blown up to the max, allowing for far more details to be heard, while on the other hand the details are far more radical in sound. That DIIV found the right balance between the two, shows the craft of the band and its producer A.G. Cook. Cook pushed the band to revisit the demos and recordings of ZIRP! already done and started to rework them together, using effects and not computers. The result is astonishing in most of the songs.

ZIRP!'s sound palet will allow the listener to hear new sounds and parts after many listening sessions. Time will tell if that will make the album grow over time with each new listening sessions as well. My guess tight now is that it will. Exactly because it is so rich in sounds, that go way beyond the guitar (Andrew Bailey), bass (Colin Coulfield) and drums (Ben Newman).

DIIV has more or less surprised me with each new album, but this time it is different. I am genuinely looking forward to hearing this album more often.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order ZIRP! here:

https://diiv.bandcamp.com/album/zirp 

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