Prisoner. Prisoner

There is no limit to the number of bands that are influenced by music from the past and do their utmost to sound just like the bands from the past, with a quality of recording equipment those past bands could not even dream of in their wildest. French punk, garage and what not outfit Prisoner is no exception.

The question is what does Prisoner want to be, because there is a plethora of influences that shine through in the Mulhouse and Bordeaux based band. Songs have the attack of punk, the wildness of garage rock, the psychedelics of the 60s, the weird frivolousness of 1960s movie soundtracks and even a more out there version of the strangest music the makers of 'Star Trek', as in the original series, could imagine for a party on board of the "Starship Enterprise" on star date whatever. Listen to 'Borné Pour Obéir', I can't point you to the right episode of 'Star Trek' though. I suggest to copy/paste it over there in 2026. It all comes together on 'Prisoner' and it works.

The fact that most songs are in French makes it hard if not impossible for me to understand what the songs are about. It does not hinder me to enjoy the music and the vocal melodies. They come across in the same way Feu! Chatterton's previous album caught me a few years ago. The surprise of how Prisoner uses its instruments, like the the trombone that comes through at surprising moments. It has the same positive effect on me as the saxophone in DEADLETTER's songs has. The organ with its sharp sound creates an even more 60s vibe. Many songs have a surprising edge, making them fairly unique. At times over the top, yes, but always just right.

Prisoner was formed by singer Susanne Pemmerl and guitarist/singer Philippe "Philos" Simon Gerard and joined later by Sébastien Grienti on bass, Marcus Hett on trombone, Étienne Meyer of drums and Lucas Gentilhomme on keyboards. Together they are responsible for a sound that besides all the aforementioned influences, also holds a French component, as some songs dip into the French sigh girl era as well. Most songs are a mix of punk and 60s movie soundtracks like John Barry wrote for tv series 'The Persuaders' for example. That sort of dreamy, happiness as if everything will be alright and for the Curtis-Moore duo it always did in the end of course.

What more can I write to convince you to listen to this near unique mix of musical styles? Hearing is believing, I'm sure. Prisoner caught me immediately with the opening song and single 'La Femme Qui s’Était Faite Toute Seule' and manages to keep my attention on the ball for the full 16 songs that follow it. No matter what turn the band takes, I'm right up there with it.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

2026, week 33. 5 singles (2)

With another heatwave coming on (the fourth this year) in some parts of the country and the lowest level of river water coming into the country ever since recording started, yes, that country that has river deltas and estuaries galore, there remain people who deny climate change. The warnings have been abundant but are not enough. Humans cannot save themselves collectively even when facing severe challenges. In the end it all boils down to the question 'who explains it to the shareholders'? Luckily, we still have music. Here's five songs for you to explore, so enjoy it while you can!

Hate Yourself In The Morning. TELL

In February 2024 and with singles before, TELL entered this blog with its energetic rocking album 'Life In Reverse'. It is one of the best read posts on this blog by the way. Come summer 2026 and the Boston band wants to compete for the "feel-bad song of the summer". Well, don't hold your breath, because Hate Yourself In The Morning is a nice rocking song, with a few nice guitar lines to follow the course of, set over a good and tight rhythm section. David Wildman has the rough kind of voice that goes nicely with this type of rock. I simply love that nice na-na-na singing after the chorus, while the guitar goes off into a nice solo underneath the singing. After writing and recording a song like Hate Yourself In The Morning the band members can only wake up smiling in the morning and think let's try this together again soon. TELL is on a roll here.

Sun Has Set. beabadoobee

You can find all three beabadoobee's albums on this blog. The first two reviewed by yours truly and the third by Erwin Zijleman. On 18 September her fourth album 'Pylon' is scheduled to be released. Based on this single, Sun Has Set, beabadoobee or Beatrice Laus as she is known at home, will present us with a harder, more alternative rock edge to her music. Tough guitars drive the song that contrast with her softer sounding voice. The lyrics match better, as the sun has set on someone alright, with not a chance of it ever rising on this person again. The rougher sound suits beabadoobee. She makes Sun Has Set a very convincing sounding song.

Got It Covered. Kurt Baker

On Got It Covered Kurt Baker takes his energy and enthusiasm to several songs that influenced him at the start of his career and turns them into his own version. Originally released in 2010, this seven song mini album is now released on vinyl for the first time. In fact, it was his first release. Since he has built a great repertoire of originals, always true to this style of music. Got It Covered is where it all started for Baker. Some of the songs are new to me, others a favourite of mine since 1979, when Blondie released its version of 'Hanging On The Telephone'. You will find covers from Elvis Costello, The Vapors, Nick Lowe, Joe Jackson Band and more, all played with the power the songs deserve and super tight to the point. For many people Got It Covered may be a new album, like it is for me and one that it is well worth to get to know.

People Pleaser. Library Card

And another single by Library Card makes it on this blog. Again it is a song that can be shelved in the (post)punk(funk)/alternative rock section of discographies. People Pleaser jumps off several different cliffs at the same time and still manages to land in one spot. People Pleaser starts as an alternative rock song adorned with early 80s postpunk and funk licks. The further the song progresses the wilder it becomes. All rules of genres are tossed overboard one by one, making this an orgiastic musical experience. The Rotterdam band has announced its debut album ‘Peeling An Orange In Just One Go’ for 6 November. Based on the three singles it will be for the more tenacious music lovers willing to undergo a host of surprises and eruptions of noise and vocal cries. Be warned, in several ways.

Tell Your Friends. Emily Grogan

In a post on singles it is but a small step from the postpunkfunk chaos of Library Card to the singer-songwriter qualities of Emily Grogan, who while I'm writing this line explodes into a 1990s rendition of female rock of the likes of Alanis Morissette and Joan Osborne, et all. The contrast works rather well, actually. It is almost as if she took two different ideas for songs and melted them together in a successful way. The Boston singer-songwriter had the idea for Tell Your Friends in her head for years but all the chaos coming with the re-election of a person who is not named, made things fall into place. From a few piano chords and a little bit of Gary Lucas style guitar wizardry Grogan lets the song rip around its theme how do we know what is real and what is not, to make it 100% personal in the second time around. There are two sides to Tell Your Friends, with a beauty and the beast quality at first hearing. Don't be fooled though, it all falls under the former.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts. Silver Lake

Min of meer door toeval ontdekte ik Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts, het tweede album van de band Silver Lake, maar inmiddels ben ik totaal in de ban van dit in alle opzichten adembenemend mooie album.

Het debuutalbum van de Haagse band Silver Lake is me drie jaar geleden niet opgevallen, maar wat ben ik blij met het deze week verschenen tweede album van de band. Als ik het voor mij perfecte album zou moeten beschrijven, zou ik heel dicht in de buurt komen van Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts van Silver Lake. Marleen Hoebe beschikt over een stem die je eindeloos wilt koesteren, de muziek van Silver Lake klinkt warm en tijdloos, de songs van de band weten je onmiddellijk te verleiden en te betoveren maar zijn ook razendknap en dan zijn er ook nog eens de teksten die de zonnige klanken op het album van een behoorlijk melancholische schaduwzijde voorzien. Silver Lake doet op Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts echt alles goed en heeft een prachtalbum afgeleverd.

Ik laat me meestal niet beïnvloeden door posts op de verschillende sociale media, maar het bericht dat de band Silver Lake op haar Facebook pagina plaatste intrigeerde me op een of andere manier. In de posts komen een aantal video’s voorbij die kennelijk gaan over het productieproces van het vinyl van het nieuwe album van de band. Het meest bijzondere van deze video’s is dat ze geen geluid bevatten, waardoor de muziek van Silver Lake een mysterie blijft. 

Het is een mysterie dat me enorm nieuwsgierig maakte naar de muziek van de mij onbekende band en dat werd versterkt door de titel van het nieuwe album van Silver Lake, Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts. Ik heb geen idee of er een gedachte zit achter de Facebook posts van Silver Lake, maar ik ben blij dat ze het nieuwe album van de band onder mijn aandacht hebben gebracht. Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts is immers een erg mooi album en een album dat nagenoeg perfect in mijn muzikale straatje past. 

Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts is volgens mij het tweede album van Silver Lake, dat de stad waar ik ben geboren en al heel lang werk als thuisbasis heeft. Den Haag is immers de thuisbasis van de band, die bestaat uit Marleen Hoebe en Jesse Koch. Het zijn namen die ik nog niet eerder ben tegengekomen, maar met het tweede album van Silver Lake leveren ze vakwerk af. 

Als ik hun namen en de naam van hun band google, lees ik hele positieve berichten over het in 2023 verschenen titelloze debuutalbum van de band, dat vooral de aandacht trok met de mooie en prachtig bij elkaar kleurende stemmen van de twee, al werden ook het geluid en de songs van Silver Lake in 2023 al geprezen. Ik heb het debuutalbum van Silver Lake inmiddels beluisterd en het is inderdaad een album dat niet had misstaan op mijn blog De Krenten uit de Pop en WoNoBlog. 

Met Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts zet het tweetal uit Den Haag nog een volgende stap en ik vind het persoonlijk een reuzenstap. Ook bij beluistering van het tweede album van Silver Lake trekt de zang onmiddellijk de aandacht. Marleen Hoebe neemt op Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts in vocaal opzicht het voortouw en dat begrijp ik volledig. De Nederlandse muzikante beschikt over een stem waar je alleen maar onmiddellijk verliefd op kunt worden en die je vervolgens ook nog eens weet te raken. 

Het is een stem die soms in meerdere lagen uit de speakers komt en af en toe fraai wordt ondersteund door die van Jesse Koch, die op het debuutalbum in vocaal opzicht een nog wat grotere rol had. Liefhebbers van vrouwelijke singer-songwriters zullen smullen van de stem van Marleen Hoebe, die met haar stem niet onderdoet voor zangeressen van naam en faam die ik al jaren koester en af en toe een randje Aimee Mann laat horen. 

Silver Lake omschrijft haar muziek op de bandcamp pagina van de band als art-pop. Dat is een label waar ik meestal niet zo veel mee kan, maar ik vind het ook niet van toepassing op de muziek van Silver Lake op Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts. Het is wat mij betreft een album met tijdloze singer-songwriter muziek en nagenoeg perfecte pop. 

De zang op het album is van een bijzondere schoonheid, maar ook in muzikaal opzicht heeft Silver Lake een prachtig album gemaakt. De songs van de twee hebben in de basis genoeg aan piano, maar zijn vervolgens rijkelijk versierd met allerlei andere instrumenten en soms prachtige orkestraties. 

Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts slaat je song na song als een warme deken om je heen met songs die je onmiddellijk een goed gevoel geven, maar die in alle opzichten over veel diepgang beschikken en behoorlijk melancholisch van aard blijken. Ik vind Flowers Grow In The Saddest Parts van Silver Lake echt een enorme ontdekking en de songs op het album worden me alleen maar dierbaarder. Wat een fantastisch album en vast nog mooier op vinyl.

Erwin Zijleman

2026, week 33. 5 singles

Holidays are over, at least for me and here is the first set of singles, still from a few months back. The ones that in my opinion really deserve attention, so enjoy.

Get Heard EP. Linnea's Garden 

This summer My Love and I travelled through northern Germany. Compilation CDs made by me, in some cases well over a decade ago, come by one after the other and the Nina Hagen Band of course. There's no driving in Germany without playing 'Nina Hagen Band' and citing her lyrics like in Hamburg, while we excited the train at the Hauptbahnhof to walk to the Elbe river like Nina does in 'Der Spinner'. Why this long introduction? Because several songs of Linnea's Garden came by.

In 2026 there is a new four song EP out and once again Linnea Herzog, Hand and Super Tough Ray Clough, make the right kind of impression on me. We have to go back well over five years to encounter Linnea's Garden for the first time on this blog but also more than 2,5 years to find the previous release. In fact, not that long ago I wondered if I would hear from the Boston trio around Linnea Herzog ever again. Often that thought proves a bellwether, as it did with Get Heard. More likely though, I forget about all those thoughts when nothing happens.

If anything, the songs seem somewhat more stylised than before. Just this little more arranged in a way that they may appeal to more ears the before. This is no hindrance from enjoying Get Heard. Especially when in the third song, 'Stop Codon', the reigns are released and the band shows its punk roots full out.  It makes the EP varied in a way that makes it attractive to listen to.

Take the opening song, 'Sell Yr Love'. It starts with an intro akin to The Cure from long ago, with a more modern guitar or better, less doomy sound. The intro, that returns throughout the song, is of the kind makes me pay attention straight away. The song remains very undercooled, also because of the synth that is underneath it all, and then that violin enters turning the song upside down. That The Cure vibe is something I can't shake, but I like what I'm hearing here. It is so much more music than just a song. The same goes for 'Grrl On Guitar'. Linnea Herzog plays all the right notes here over the super tight rhythm section in which Hand plays this playful bass part, walking over the bass whenever she can.

The EP ends with an alternative rock ballad, 'Her', making it all even more varied, as "Her' explores every angle of the composition, making it ever bigger and more impressive. Linnea's Garden has dived deeper than before and I like what I'm hearing. The band itself calls its music "queer punk rock". Allow me to call it great alternative rock music. 

Missing Bernadette. The Bernadette Maries

Missing Bernadette when you're called The Bernadette Maries sounds like a very serious occasion, but judging the latest song by the Brussels based band, it can easily do without Bernadette. Being on the blog for the third time since week 1 of this year, the band is starting to become more familiar. Missing Bernadette is a mid tempo song with one foot in the doom music of the 1980s and one in the more upbeat psychedelia of the 2020s. The mix works rather well, with the synths spreading out all over the song providing some light over the dark rhythm guitars under which the drums pound away and lead guitar brings the spotlight. Yes, it sounds familiar as in the way of what musically came before Missing Bernadette and yet Missing Bernadette is more than welcome as an addition to what came before. Album 'Soft' is slated for 18 September. Judging the singles, the wait will be worth it.

The Wednesday of my discontent. Charming Arson

In 2024 I wrote a review on Charming Arson's single 'Saving Chelsea', comparing what I heard to The Who, Buffalo Tom and a guitar solo like Jefferson Starship's Craig Chaquico played in the 1970s. The Wednesday of my discontent does not hold any of this. It is an alternative rock song with some 90s influences and mostly dark. Musically it reminds me more of that 90s band from Newark, The Caulfields, best know for being on MTV rotation with 'Devil's Diary'. The Wednesday of my discontent holds the same sort of melody in the chord changes like The Caulfields were good at. What strikes me best, is the way The Wednesday of my discontent develops. From the stern instrumental opening to a more melodic verse and slowly but surely letting it rip in the verses. More and more by the chorus. David Cameron and band score here.

CTRL+ALT+DEL. Tape Toy

Tape Toy is on route to release its debut album on 28 August. It's called 'Dumb Sites'. With CTRL+ALT+DEL, the command to shut down the computer immediately, the band makes another statement, signalling that 'Dumb Sites' may be an album to be on the watch out for. Like The Bernadette Maries in the above here, the band has a foot in the past and the present and that present aligns with a band like POM. The enthusiasm and energy POM shares with its fans, is found in abundance on CTRL+ALT+DEL. Tape Toy is willing and able to explode and can hold back within the same song, making for very attractive listening. Lead singer and guitarist Roos van Tuil, guitarist Wesley Fransen, bass player Maurice van de Graaf and drummer Marc van Dongen manage to get their fun of making music together across with ease it seems. I do not have the impression the band is still with Mattan Records. It would have fitted in between POM and Fit spot on.

The Body Of An American. Dropkick Murphys

Paddies from Boston that is what the members of Dropkick Murphys are. From the day I ran into them, thanks to my then seven year old son, who ran into a punk compilation record with a funny cover (no, not Toy Dolls, at least that time) and we both became fans have gone to several shows through the years together. With The Body Of An American Dropkick Murphys pays its tribute to Shane McGowan, part of a compilation album full of renditions of McGowan's music. Of course, it is a huge success. Like no other band the Bostonians are able to integrate traditional Irish (folk) instruments into punk music. Many a traditional got the Dropkick Murphys treatment, making it Irish folkpunk to the T. Expect a death, whiskey, drinking and some brawling, but above singing a song together.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Frozen Charlotte. Jack White

Released on the same day as The Rolling Stones' 'Foreign Tongues', it made it impossible for me find the time to acquaint myself with Frozen Charlotte before I went on holiday a few days later. On return I did and here is a fairly short review of the album.

It is unfair to compare Jack White with The Roling Stones. For that his standing is not big enough. At the same time Jack White has a career that nearly encompasses 30 years and with The White Stripes he was able to fill the bigger venues at some point in the 00s. After a few more difficult albums after breaking up with Meg White, I had lost track of his career, until a single earlier this year showed me that White might be back on track for a great album.

Listening to the album right now I can only admit that yes, Jack White is back in a great form and there he matches 'Foreign Tongues' completely. The fun, enthusiasm, energy and songs are all there. The difference is in the fact that his music does not truly reach me, a few songs excluded. Recently, I asked myself when I last played a The White Stripes album, and I could not provide an answer. I have them all, so that is not the issue. So, to protect my wallet, I will not buy Frozen Charlotte.

Having said that, the album is good, as Jack White and the musicians make sparks fly in the familiar over-distorted  bluesrock Jack White excels in. So, don't let my reticence keep you from getting familiar with Frozen Charlotte or even doing something as old-fashioned as buying it.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Frozen Charlotte here:

https://officialjackwhite.bandcamp.com/album/frozen-charlotte