2026, week 36. 5 singles

On a day the rain came down like pellets, I'm finishing this singles post. In the afternoon it dried up and I managed to get a fresh nose, as we call it. I enjoyed it and I hope you will enjoy this fresh bunch.

The Work. Baxter Hall

A new name on the blog opens this singles post. Baxter Hall's song The Work is of a kind that I associate with the U.S. It is a kind of folk rock that comes from there and the way it blows up in the ears of the listener towards the end is of the kind the Mr. Bigs of this world used to do when I was a lot younger. The two different approaches do work on The Work. The tough kind of folk song allows Hall to tell a personal story about estranging from a parent. The frustration and anger is vented in the music. His voice contains it. The music does not and then the song explodes in your ears. In a very impressive way, and then it's kicked back into its cage for a soft and resigned ending. There will be an EP at the end of summer.

The Ravine. Doom Scrolls

When I read punk band, I usually think of something entirely different from what I'm hearing here. Doom Scrolls is from Colorado and formed in 2020. The song starts with, if I'm hearing it correct, a banjo. It might be a mandoline. Anyway everything I'm not expecting. After a subdued intro, the band comes in and its closer to the punk side of bluegrass band The Hackensaw Boys then to Rancid. The tempo is up but with traditional instruments like a washboard. The bass sounds like an electric one though. I'm a The Hackensaw Boys fan for well over 20 years now, so I can definitely get to like Doom Scrolls. Album 'Exhausted Dialogue' is out on 6 October and will provide the chance to find out if there is more to like. And those lucky enough to live in the U.S.A., the band is on an extensive tour there at the moment.

Things Have Learnt To Walk That Ought To Crawl. The Room

Formed originally in 1979, The Room reunited after a 30 year plus hiatus and is ready to release its third album since doing so, 'Doom! Pop', on 4 September. Things Have Learnt To Walk That Ought To Crawl is the single and if I had been told that the single was released around 1980, I would have believed it immediately. And I would have liked it. Singer Dave Jackson may have that typical postpunk voice (yes, still has it in 2026) the song definitely is not about the sky falling on our heads imminently. There's even a "lalalalala" part in the song. At the time I had never heard of The Room, as far as I can recall. Today I have and my life has become just a little bit better because of it. And that title, so intriguing. Plus, is it longer the Kirsty MacCall's chip shop song? Let me know.

In Another Life. Deardarkhead

Another instrumental track from the reformed Deardarkhead. While the bass and drums provide the guitar layers with the basis to start their work from, the song develops in interesting ways. From parts that are just rhythm, the composition develops into a part where guitars hurtle over each other in a very playful way. It's hard to write on an instrumental track, I already wrote that on Deardarkhead's single 'Letting Go' before the summer break, and that hasn't changed. It is worth your while to listen to In Another Life, as it has a pleasant lead melody. A lot better than the Bill Wyman credited song with the same title on 'Their Majesty's Satanic Request'. The album 'The Pendulum Swings' is out since July.

Do What You Want. Still Insane

And here is a punkrock single as punkrock is meant to be. See Doom Scroll above to understand where this opening line is coming from. Looking at the picture that accompanies the announcement of Do What You Want and album 'When Friendship’s Not Enough', I see four veterans of punkrock. They are on a role on Do What You Want. The song is textbook Green Day, for me that band is the textbook American punkrock band. Just listen to that bass. I has Mike Dirnt spelled all over it, and the singer has that Billie Joe Armstrong sneer in his voice. All is played super, super tight. The Canadians from Québec City in Canada are on a roll towards that new album.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

I've Missed You All These Years. Sera Calhoone

Yes, I'll admit it straight away, I've Missed You All These Years is at times far too country for me. This is really Erwin Zijleman territory. But, some of the songs on Sera Calhoone's sixth album are so beautiful that it compensates for the country part.

Don't ask me to explain why this album and not hundreds of others. I simply do not know. Just that some of the songs really get to me. Just like that Hazeldine album from the late 90s did, that I keep forgetting the name of. The one with 'Drive' on it. (Yes, I'm being lazy here.)

The fun starts for me with 'Say Something', the second song on I've Missed You All These Years. The tempo is up a little. There's an electric guitar with a nice country twang and a piano that weaves in and out of the song. Later on there's a lead guitar picking its way through the other instruments. Sera Calhoone's voice suits this song so well. So, yes, country music but with a hint at melancholy pop and a sprinkling of country rock.

Just like me this year, Sera Calhoone has gone through a rough personal period while working on I've Missed You All These Years. Lyrically, she focuses on the period after climbing out of the darkness. That is translated into the music that has a bittersweet feeling over most of the album. Introspective is another word that I will use for several of the songs.

In the meantime I am swinging between opposites with this album. One side is swinging between the individual songs, including the next level: the moment of listening in which a song falls to my good side or not. The Johnny Cash of the 1950s country rhythm on 'Horse Runnin' is easy to like but a song like opener 'High and Low' really comes with my brain being open to it. While 'Pulling Up Roots' brings me in Hazeldine territory, so point scored. That is the other opposite, my personal mood whether I'm receptive to more country-tinged songs or not.

As you can read, I'm sort of torn where I've Missed You All These Years is concerned, but not in a way that I did not want to write on the album. For that it is too nice to ignore and to not inform you about it. You will have to make up your own mind, but then, you should always do that.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order I've Missed You All These Years here:

https://seracahoone.bandcamp.com/album/ive-missed-you-all-these-years 

Eyes Full. Zoh Amba

Zoh Amba timmert al een aantal jaren aan de weg als jazzsaxofonist, maar kiest op het deze week verschenen Eyes Full voor een totaal andere weg met ruwe folksongs vol stevig gitaarwerk en bijzondere zang.

Ik heb het vorige week even geprobeerd met Eyes Full van Zoh Amba, maar het was niet het juiste moment voor het album. Het is een album dat ver is verwijderd van de muziek die Zoh Amba tot dusver heeft gemaakt. Samen met gitarist Kevin Hyland en drummer Jim White maakt Zoh Amba ruwe songs met een mix van folk en rock. Het zijn songs die associaties oproepen met de muziek van Big Thief of de albums van frontvrouw Adrianne Lenker, maar Eyes Full is rauwer en intenser. Toen ik er een paar dagen geleden naar luisterde was het wel het juiste moment voor de nieuwe muziek van Zoh Amba en kwam het album wel binnen. Vervolgens begreep ik opeens alle superlatieven die de Amerikaanse muziekpers erover heeft opgeschreven.

De albums van de Amerikaanse muzikant Zoh Amba, die zichzelf overigens identificeert als non-binair persoon, zijn me in het verleden meer dan eens aangeprezen, maar na even luisteren was ik er snel uit dat het niets voor mij was. Op deze albums maakt de muzikant uit New York jazz en ook nog eens het soort jazz waar ik vooral heel erg nerveus van word. 

Het vorige week verschenen Eyes Full is een heel ander soort album, maar wederom waren de Amerikaanse muziekcritici eensgezind en waren de superlatieven niet van de lucht. Het nieuwe album van Zoh Amba opent met een folky song en het is er een die me niet direct overtuigde. De nerveuze jazz is in de openingstrack OCD verruild voor stevig aangezet en wat eclectisch akoestisch gitaarspel en de stem van Zoh Amba en ik werd er wederom wat nerveus van. 

Het is een stem waar ik een paar jaar geleden waarschijnlijk enorm aan had moeten wennen, maar de stem van Zoh Amba lijkt nogal op die van Big Thief zangeres Adrianne Lenker en ook de manier van zingen is vrijwel identiek. Daar moet je tegen kunnen, maar sinds Big Thief me van mijn sokken blies met haar eerste paar albums heb ik wel wat met het soort zang op Eyes Full van Zoh Amba. 

Na de wat onrustige openingstrack gooit de muzikant uit New York er ook nog wat invloeden uit de indierock tegenaan en worden de associaties met de muziek van Big Thief alleen maar sterker. Zowel de zang als de gitaren klinken wel wat ruwer en compromislozer dan in de muziek van Big Thief, wat Eyes Full een wat lo-fi karakter geeft. 

Het nieuwe album van Zoh Amba is een album dat je na een paar tracks snel opzij schuift en nooit meer beluistert of het is een album dat je maar blijft intrigeren. Net als de Amerikaanse muziekcritici was ik direct onder de indruk van het album en pakte ik het album er steeds weer bij. 

In muzikaal opzicht rammelt het behoorlijk en ook op de onvaste zang van Zoh Amba kun je heel veel aanmerken, maar op een of andere manier klopt het. Wanneer je vervolgens vaker naar het album luistert worden de songs van de muzikant uit New York beter en grijpen ze je nog wat steviger bij de strot met de ruwe zang. Ook het gitaarwerk op het album overtuigt dan nog wat makkelijker, zeker in de meest rauwe passages. 

Zoh Amba keerde voor het nieuwe album terug naar het platteland van Tennessee, waar de wortels van de Amerikaanse muzikant liggen en waar Zoh Amba niet paste, en dat hoor je in de songs, die worden gedomineerd door invloeden uit de folk, met hier en daar een randje blues en country. Het is ver verwijderd van de muziek die Zoh Amba als saxofonist maakt, maar geef mij maar Eyes Full. 

Als Big Thief niet had bestaan en Adrianne Lenker een ander beroep had gekozen zou Eyes Full uit kunnen groeien tot een sensationeel album, maar nu klinkt het uiteindelijk vooral als het album dat Adrianne Lenker nog niet heeft gemaakt. Dat doet niets af aan de prestatie die Zoh Amba levert, want als ik moet kiezen tussen de soloalbums van Adrianne Lenker en dit album kies ik met veel overtuiging voor Eyes Full. 

 Ook de muzikanten die Zoh Amba begeleiden zijn overigens geen koekenbakkers, want gitarist Kevin Hyland speelde in de band van MJ Lenderman en drummer Jim White behoeft geen nadere introductie. Het levert een album op dat je verafschuwt of dat je grijpt en als het je grijpt houdt het je voorlopig in een stevige wurggreep.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Eyes Full hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://zohamba.bandcamp.com/album/eyes-full 

.NoWordsNeedeD, 30-08-2026

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzZBbX5A1FA

 

.No 

2026, week 35. 5 singles

Another week, another bunch of singles. Enjoy!

butsowhat. SisterBessie

Truth be, I'd never expected to review the debut single from a tattoo artist from Kopenhagen having moved to Amsterdam. It is also for the first time since a few year that I review a song in the style of "hey ho" or "ho hey" music. SisterBessie does not become that exuberant nor sings hey ho anywhere, it is in the atmosphere and melody of butsowhat. Adam Højlund Pukki, who is SisterBessie, presents a subdued form of music, that can be played with an acoustic guitar only around the campfire. Singer-songwriter and folk can be adequate descriptions of his music. From there the song is subtly arranged around his voice. Pukki's voice is not the best I've heard but it has the character needed to address the personal topic about relations and friendships in a convincing way.

The Reckoning. Cindy Larson

Cindy Lawson returned to punkrock in 2022 and made it to these pages regularly that year, leading up to her album 'New Tricks'. Four years later she returns with single The Reckoning, announcing a to be released EP. On her new single she captures a truckload of energy, enough to light up a small town for a night or two. The Reckoning shows how music of old can be treated with respect and turned into great new songs. The song rocks and rolls with a great role for a dirty sounding lead guitar that makes great use of the fundament the band lays down for it. Over it all Cindy Lawson steps into the spot light and grabs the attention the song allows her and she deserves. Her voice was made for tough songs like this, without losing any femininity, as she can shout and pur at the right time, while without doubt kicking a loud-mouthed, rude man into the corner. "On your knees and cry". More direct than this lyrics seldom come. 

Ride With You. Cast of The Wanderer

What a strange band name, I thought. It turns out that it is the cast of the musical 'The Wanderer' based on the career and life of Dion (DiMucci) of 'The Wanderer' and 'Runaround Sue' fame from the post Elvis and pre-Beatles era. I take it that Ride With You is a song about as old as the two famous hits. Translated into the musical, it becomes a stark, modern sounding rocker, that fits in today quite well. There's no way Dion has ever sounded like this. The two vocalists, Mike Wartella and Diego Andres Rodriguez, really rip it up and remind me of on the one hand Status Quo and the other John Travolta in 'Greased Lightning'. It is loud and it rocks but is smooth enough to go down nicely with a bigger, more average crowd as well.  The musical has some songs that were written specifically for the musical. Ride With You is a Dion song though. The original is a jazzy, bluesy song that has gotten a total makeover and a successful one at that. I do not mind to ride with both versions for a while though.

You’ve Got To Choose feat. Mia Boostrom. Sean Coleman Project

From jazzy-bluesy to blues with a lot more, all contained in the voice of Mia Boostrom. I have never heard of her before, but what a voice. The song starts hesitatingly though. It's as if it will be a sort of gospel inspired song, with an acoustic guitar and a Hammond organ. And then comes in this big drum fill and a few lead notes and the rhythm guitar playing the riff. The whole brings Mia Boostrom in her strength and from that moment onwards she doesn't look back. Let's say that Beth Hart has a great competitor. The band behind really rocks out. To think that You've Got To Choose is a debut single from Sean Coleman Project, what more lies in wait for us?

Into The Stars. Nocona

Into The Stars? That title was almost the title of the first The Rolling Stones single of its latest album 'Foreign Tongues'. Los Angeles band Nocona uses the same title to announce its upcoming album 'Backslider' scheduled for release in December. Nocona touches upon a country flavour, while mildly rocking nonetheless. The pedal steel guitar takes on a big role with its typical sound, bringing up images of balmy evenings somewhere in the South. It gives Into The Stars a distinct flavour that takes it away from the way it starts. I'm inclined to place it somewhere between country rock and pop and there the magic happens. This year it has been six years since Nocona was on this blog first with it album 'Los Dos'. And here is the second single this year already. My appetite has been wetted.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght