Draw The Outline. Sorcha Richardson

"Draw the outline" are the first three words on Sorcha Richardson's new album, lifted from the opening song 'Sea Pink Moon'. The words that were my introduction to Sorcha Richardson or so I thought, as I found to have reviewed her single 'Grenadine' in June.

Sorcha Richardson is from West Kerry in Ireland these days, after having moved to New York and back to Dublin. Draw The Outline is her third album, after 'Smiling Like An Idiot' brought her success in Ireland in 2022. Her music on Draw The Outline has the slacker rock ingredients that I usually find in music from Australia (Courtney Barnett) and even more from New Zealand (Vera Ellen, e.g. in the song 'Carpenter'). Sorcha Richardson has an identical approach to music. A laidback rhythm and a relaxed, on parts of the album an almost slacker way of singing. There's just no hurry in most songs. Like in 'Grenadine', that progresses slowly but surely.

So my advice is to enjoy Draw The Outline to the fullest, as it allows you to go with its flow. Follow these mysterious sounds that can weave themselves in and out of a song. These wafts of electronic music that are there and then aren't. Not unlike Reb Fountain presented on her eponymous album from 2020. Here it is more direct though as they are allowed into the forefront as well. It gives the album a layer of mystique coming with the west of Ireland where it can be foggy for days, then be sunny, to end the day with a hurricane. Where leprechauns roam and peat smoke can still fill your nose. If this was Sorcha Richardson's intention, she caught it superbly. Further on in the album you will hear folk/singer-songwriter songs as well, sparsely arranged around an acoustic guitar.

That acoustic guitar is the basis of this album. When the weather of West-Kerry allows, she can sit at the beach with friends and sing and play the songs this way. From there the songs are built up. Together with producer Chris W. Ryan she chose for a mostly rustic sound with some mystery added.

With 'Illinois Again' the tempo goes up, slightly, while a more indie rock oriented vibe is shared with the listener. A variation of music that makes Draw The Outline a stronger album because of this change of approach. At heart 'Illinois Again' may be a soft song, in part because of Sorcha Richardson's voice, the more prominent drums and that dark sounding lead guitar, give a different impression.

Draw The Outline is a deceptive album. Anyone playing this album in the background, will no doubt wonder, is it over already? What have I heard? Anyone playing the album somewhat louder or with a headset on, will hear the depth Richardson and Ryan have put in the album and will reach the other side in awe of what they have just heard. Listening has become a rewarding experience. I'm listening through a headset right now, I am on the latter side of the equation. So should you. Draw The Outline is a beautiful album very much worthwhile getting acquainted with.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Draw The Outline here:

https://sorcharichardson.bandcamp.com/album/draw-the-outline 

2026, week 37. 10 singles

Officially, it not yet autumn. The weather tells me differently. One day it rains like crazy, the next day it is nice and sunny, the next back to rain. Weathermen and climatologists warn for mighty rainfall this fall, due to the seas and oceans being far warmer. After a far too dry spring and summer, a far too wet autumn? That does give an opportunity to catch the water and store it for dryer times. Bob Dylan sang it in 1964, 'The Times They Are-a-Changing'. Luckily we will still have the music. Enjoy!

There Was You. Teenage Fanclub

I have Teenage Fanclub to thank that I discovered Big Star in 1993. Following the release of 'Thirteen', the references to the legendary Memphis band were all over the place (and with The Posies records), so I caught up and never looked back. Teenage Fanclub went out of sight for a while though, despite the fact you can find two albums on this blog and a single from six years ago. There Was You is a pure pop single with some West Coast overtones from long ago. If the song reminds me of anything, it is America and its songs like 'A Horse With No Name' and 'Sister Golden Hair'. There Was You has that some tone of sweetness written all over it and the acoustic sound. To make it even better it has that bitter edge to it, making the sweet even taste better. The Scottish band's new album, 'Do Not Dare To Dream', is out on 9 October.

Jetpack. Jefferson Starship

I'll be honest, I had expected to switch this song off within a few seconds. Jefferson Starship, with founding member David Freiberg and the drummer from the fourth generation? How can this iteration even carry the name? And then Jetpack hit me. It is a very American powerpop/rock song, with some hints at the style Paul Kantner got stuck in from the 1980s onwards, i.e. everyone singing together. Yet, this song is huge and is good. Everything and everybody is throwing punch after punch, until the listener is floored in the most positive sense of the word. Nothing and one held back and singer Cathy Richardson has a powerhouse of a voice. She doesn't have to overdo anything to lay down this performance. I expected nothing and got the best new Jefferson Starship song since 'Out Of Control'. Now who could have expected that?

Sink Or Swim. Hyper Minds

O.K. How fast can a human being play music? Can a drummer drum this intensely and keep up/time? Maybe faster that Hyper Minds' members do on Sink Or Swim, but much faster? I doubt it. From the get go the band goes at it at full speed. It's like my chief at my first ever job said at 08.30 AM: "We start as fast as we can and from there only go faster". It often felt like it; I have never been fitter since. Back to Sink Or Swim. Hyper Minds is an L.A. punk band that formed in 2024 and recently signed with the DC-Jam label. This is its second single. And it comes with a surprise, because the tempo and intensity is brought down, allowing everyone to wind down a little, including myself. In a moshpit things can get more intense though, as the accents allow a lot of slamming, or so I imagine sitting here writing in my chair at home. When the tempo goes back to the original speed, it is luctor et emergo indeed.

Wild Ones. The Hellflowers

More punk? Yes! The Hellflowers play a more punkrock style in the vein of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Expect some garagerock influences and a great pop flow in the vocal melody. All together, I'd opt to mention Social Distortion as a main influence. The Hellflowers can be found on this blog with two singles in 2025, released on Rum Bar. The band appears to have moved on on route to its album 'Haunted', planned for February next year. Wild Ones is a song that rocks from beginning to end. It has a great opening riff, after which singer Christina Eskew, with her great voice for rock songs, makes it very clear that this band is not going to bend, break or change for anyone. "We are the wild ones". Message understood and as far as I'm concerned, as long as The Hellflowers delivers like it does with Wild Ones, I'm going to make the band stick to its promise. What a single!

Infinite. STEAK

Next up, some symphonic rock in a modernised Marillion style. STEAK formed in London in 2012 and released three albums so far. Infinite is the first sign from album number 4, 'STEAK' ( 9 October). The song starts out in a mesmerising, dreamy way. It is clear the band works towards a climax, but it gives you a run for your money before a heavy chord is played on an electric guitar. Even that is more atmosphere than rock. Slowly but surely the listener is led to the moment that everyone is finally allowed to go full out. Only singer Kippa remains his tranquil self. No one else is holding back on Infinite from that moment onwards. It leads to a song of the epic kind that clocks in just under six minutes. It's worth your while to undergo the musical adventure STEAK takes you on.

Watch The World Just Fall Apart. Rocketsuit Rogue

And back to punkrock. I'm sure that regular viewers of this weekly singles post will have gotten the idea that punk is what the clock strikes on a daily basis here. Besides never getting that past the love of my life, it is far from the truth. I seldom enjoy punk by the album, a few exceptions aside, but by the song or in this case singles. Rocketsuit Rogue is the new band of former Zebrahead frontman Matty Lewis. With Watch The World Just Fall Apart he presents the full picture. The energy, the noise, the pace, the Green Day light and shade, it's all there. What I like the most is the great melody and that whoa-oa style singing/shouting in between. I remember hearing that consciously for the first time when an Australian punk band was doing a soundcheck in the Friday dive where I regularly went for an after Friday's work beer. (And bought a ticket fot the show. Don't ask me what the band was called. Great show though.) I'm sure a whole Rocketsuit Rogue album will be a bit too much for me, but Watch The World Just Fall Apart is simply great.

Hello. Heather and the Jerk

In punk/garage rock there are many different styles and approaches. With Heather and The Jerk it is a female voice, sounding rather innocent compared to the noise behind the singer. With 1.39 minutes all is already over and we have heard the world hello more than enough, to understand the singer is calling out for the attention of someone with the line "I'm so dumb and your so bright". Admittedly, one of the more original pick up lines I've ever heard. Singer Heather Sawyer sounds like a fourteen year old in the middle of a teenage drama, not unlike 'Leader Of The Pack'. Reading in how many bands she's already played in either as singer or as a drummer, my guess is she'll be several years older. The music is a mix of rock and roll, garage and punk rock, that will get you excited. Don't expect any high rolling recording technique. Hello is all about bringing across the energy and the fun of this music. Heather and the Jerk has succeeded with flying colours.

The Thousand Yard Stare EP. Sam Powers

This week saw a post about an album that was shelved for 26 years, 'Free Electricity' by The Go and here is The Thousand Yard Stare, a six song mini album by Sam Powers, 22 years old. The recording may sound like a metallic home recording, dusted off a little, it takes nothing away from the power Sam Powers and friends entrusted to the recording device of choice. Sam Powers has before and since toured with Guided by Voices, Superdrag and Who Hit John? After leaving Superdrag in 2004 he recorded The Thousand Yard Stare with Dean Bratcher. Musically, it fits in the time it was recorded. You can pick out your own favourite from the day. The album really adds something to what came before and makes me wonder why Powers never got the chance to record these songs better and lift them up from demo quality. Anyway, we finally have the chance to listen to the six songs. Listen through the mist of time and find the gems in there Sam Powers left for us all to find.

5 Believers EP. The Laissez Fairs

The Laissez Fairs can be found on this blog since 2022. The best title so far is 'Singing Inside Your Head' and with the songs on the 5 Believers EP, they may well stand accused of causing me doing just that with these new songs. The EP kicks of with 'Pacific Coast'. The 1960s psychedelia is there, of course. The band adds a layer of dreaminess that makes it whole different sort of beast. It provides a touch of innocence the members of The Laissez Fairs on the basis of their age can never have any more. Too much has happened in their lives for that. And yet, 'Pacific Coast' sounds convincing enough. 'Treating Me Cold' is like The Troggs on a good day, like 'With A Girl Like You' or 'Marbles And Some Gum'. The song rocks but holds back, as not everything can be as wild as 'Wild Thing'. Enter 'Smashing Windows' and there that wildness is. If you hadn't woken up yet, 'Smashing Windows will do the trick. The guitars are stacked just right, while there is that little organ in the background adding just the right flavour to the song. There are two more songs that make sure that this EP keeps to quality level the first three have set. Joe Lawless: vocals, guitar, piano, organ, sleigh bells, tambourine, Moog, John Fallon: vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitars, bass, Cromm Fallon: bass guitar, Glockenspiel, Tone DeCorte: drums and Dale Gilbert: backing vocal, tambourine are on a roll on 5 Believers, believe you me.

Fur Elise. Blondshell

Blondshell, a.k.a. Sabrina Teitelbaum, returns to this blog with her new single Fur Elise. It is a song in the style of what made a band like Live big in the 1990s. Showing vulnerability through strength, something like that. Fur Elise is a post-grunge song that kicked out the darkness bands like Creed and Staind always carried with them. Blondshell adds not only her femininity to the song but also plays with the light and shade. Where the song is soft, she sings in a darker register, letting her voice and volume go up when the band is let loose. Making her voice far more prominent by way of this vocal use. Behind her the lead guitar plays a nice melody, while the rest of the band lays a firm foundation to play and sing over. There's an album on the way. 'Violins' will be released on 25 September. As a funny aside, I hear an American singer sing Fur Elise, which is of course Ludwig von Beethoven's famous composition, but it is actually called 'Für Elise', i.e. for Elise. All of a sudden I have a very furry Elise in my mind's eye.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Chuck Timely & The Hourglass. ROLE MODEL

Ik had tot dusver niets met de muziek van ROLE MODEL, maar het in augustus verschenen Chuck Timely & The Hourglass is een album vol aangenaam zonnige en volstrekt zorgeloze songs en een onweerstaanbaar lekkere jaren 70 vibe.

Tucker Pillsbury wil heel graag een grote popster worden, maar met de eerste twee albums die hij maakte als ROLE MODEL kwam hij wat mij betreft kwaliteit tekort. Op zijn derde album kiest de Amerikaanse muzikant weer voor een ander geluid en dit keer heeft hij een geluid te pakken waarmee hij zich wel weet te onderscheiden. Chuck Timely & The Hourglass lijkt zo weggelopen uit de jaren 70 en lijkt vol te kiezen voor het vermaak, maar de songs van Tucker Pillsbury zitten dit keer ook knap in elkaar. De songs op Chuck Timely & The Hourglass zijn zwaar aangezet en neigen soms naar kitsch, maar zo ver laat de Amerikaanse muzikant het niet komen. Het levert een mooie zomerse soundtrack op en waarschijnlijk nog veel meer dan dat.

ROLE MODEL is het alter ego van de Amerikaanse singer-songwriter Tucker Pillsbury, die deze week zijn derde album heeft uitgebracht. Ik heb zijn eerste twee albums wel eens beluisterd en vond er eerlijk gezegd niet zo veel aan. Op zijn debuutalbum maakt de Amerikaanse muzikant nogal doorsnee pop met invloeden uit de R&B, terwijl hij het op zijn tweede album over een andere boeg gooit en kiest voor singer-songwriter muziek met veel invloeden uit de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek, maar ook een flinke dosis weinig inspirerende pop. 

Op beide albums hoorde ik wel de grenzeloze ambitie van Tucker Pillsbury om uit te groeien tot een grote popster, maar de daden bleven wat mij betreft flink achter bij de ambities, want echt onderscheiden kon hij zich wat mij betreft niet. Ik had dan ook hele lage verwachtingen van zijn derde album, maar Chuck Timely & The Hourglass heeft wel wat, al wist ik niet direct wat. 

Bij eerste beluistering van het album ging ik ervan uit dat Chuck Timely & The Hourglass wel eens uit zou kunnen groeien tot een hele fijne ‘guilty pleasure’, maar inmiddels schat ik het nieuwe album van ROLE MODEL hoger in. Na de eerste twee pogingen om een grote popster te worden, kiest Tucker Pillsbury op zijn derde album weer voor een ander geluid en wat mij betreft heeft hij dit keer beet. 

Op zijn nieuwe album kruipt Tucker Pillsbury in de huid van het personage Chuck Timely. Deze Chuck Timely beschikt over het vermogen om door de tijd te reizen en gebruikt deze vaardigheid om door de geschiedenis van de popmuziek te reizen. Bij beluistering van het album is direct duidelijk dat Chuck Timely in eerste instantie in de jaren 70 is neergestreken. 

De songs waarmee het album opent herinneren aan zorgeloze popsongs uit de jaren 70, zoals bijvoorbeeld die van Elton John, maar ook zeker Michael Franks. Ik was zoals gezegd niet zo onder de indruk van de muzikale keuzes die ROLE MODEL op de eerste twee albums maakte, maar op Chuck Timely & The Hourglass heeft de Amerikaanse muzikant zijn geluid gevonden. 

Het album is voorzien van een lekker broeierig en vol geluid en is knap geproduceerd. Zeker met de koortjes ligt overdaad op de loer, maar de koortjes hebben ook een aangename David Bowie ten tijde van Young Americans vibe. Er is een enorme bak instrumenten gebruikt voor het rijk ingekleurde geluid op Chuck Timely & The Hourglass. Het neigt af en toe naar kitsch, maar Tucker Pillsbury blijft wat mij betreft altijd aan de juiste kant van de streep. 

Ik vond hem op zijn vorige albums geen geweldige zanger, maar het geluid op het nieuwe album is hem op het lijf geschreven. Zeker als je het album wat vaker beluistert, wordt het een zoekplaatje met tal van bedoelde of onbedoelde verwijzingen naar hits uit de jaren 70, wat van Chuck Timely & The Hourglass ook een ongelooflijk feelgood album maakt. 

Of Tucker Pillsbury met dit album gaat uitgroeien tot een grote popster durf ik niet te voorspellen, maar ik hoor voor het eerst de potentie van de Amerikaanse muzikant. Over één ding maak ik me wel zorgen en dat is over de tijdmachine van Chuck Timely. Deze brengt hem aan het begin van het album weliswaar feilloos naar de jaren 70, maar blijft hier vervolgens ook steken, wat ik persoonlijk trouwens helemaal niet erg vind.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt ROLE MODEL hier luisteren en bestellen;

https://rolemodelsongs.bandcamp.com/album/chuck-timely-the-hourglass 

Doom Pop! The Room

Doom Pop!, more like Boom Pop! looking at the sleeve. At least that's the conclusion that I arrived at after listening to The Room's Doom Pop! album for the first time. The Room lays down an atmosphere from long ago. The days in the 1980s that should the sky have come down, we would not all be wearing a blue hat, but would have been covered in the fallout from armageddon day. That day never came in the 1980s. I never expected it to happen then. After all "the Russians love their children too", as Sting taught us. Come 2026 and for the first time in my life I have a feeling I may have to live through a war any way. I doubt if Vladimir Putin loves his children, let alone his countrymen's.

Viewed from this vantage point it is only befitting that The Room returns from the mist of time with its new album. In no way can happy notes be found on Doom Pop!. All is doom and gloom. It is in the singing of David Jackson. Always in his darker register, with a faint hint of what he would have sounded like when the band released its first records in the 1980s. It is in the pace of the music. Near all songs are in a dragging mid-tempo, allowing for darkness to seep in more easily. All instruments are played to support that mood at their best abilities. Above all the topics addressed make Doom Pop! a protest album for the 2020s. The Room is not beating about the bush where they stand. It can't be accused of being hedonistic, as many artists seem to be in the 2020s.

At the same time, there is also a tongue in cheek level. "Drill Baby Drill" is poking fun at you know who. "I don't even like my grandkids ... maybe they can live on Mars". Go through the album and you will find a few more of these puns with a very serious undertone. The grandads and grandma playing in The Room know where their loyalty lies. "Drill baby drill, Maybe you should live on Mars" is their message. The lead guitar part and the keyboards give the song something light as well. Some more poking fun?

Musically, Doom Pop! is an anachronism, as it belongs to an era long gone. What The Room has done well, is to bring it into the 20s because of the topics. That makes it a very contemporary album, worth to get to know and not just for somebody who lived through the 80s like me.

The Room formed in 1979 and released three albums before breaking up in 1985. The output including the single from this record, 'Things Have Learnt to Walk That Ought to Crawl', that the band re-recorded for this album. It stands out still, as it is a strong song. Since reforming the band released another three albums, including Doom Pop! The line up includes three original members.

Until recently, I had never heard of The Room and I have to say that I simply like what I'm hearing on Doom Pop! It is time to sort of revise my views on 1980s music. I was totally turned of from a lot of music at the time. Even my favourite bands and singers were producing worse and worse album at the time, until 1989. In hindsight, it wasn't all bad. Certainly different, and that clinical sound is still an issue though. I can't tell what The Room sounded like then. I may take a listen soon. This album works though. There's just enough light in the doom and often it is that keyboard played by Ethan Kyme that does the trick. The following listening sessions learned that not all is darkness. Doom Pop! or Boom Pop!, I'm happy either way.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

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