Het onderste uit de man. Hausmagger

The most surprising act on the recent edition of Waterpop festival in Wateringen to me was Rotterdam's finest Hausmagger, led by actor/singer Theo Wesselo. A band that before the gig was totally unknown to me. Hausmagger rocked and punked from all sides, fronted by the sometimes provoking humour of Wesselo. It took awhile for me to get used to his humour, but it did work and I can only assume that the humour is meant to provoke. How does this translate into music on an album?

Having found the bandcamp site of the band quite easily, I bought the latest album and was treated to a more varied set of songs than on stage. More subtle and even delicate, without losing impact. Live Hausmagger is a wall of sound of hard hitting on drums and the tight pounding of the bass snares over which the lead guitarist makes all his noises. On record there is more room for songs that are of a little less velocity, even some electronics can be heard. Theo Wesselo at those moments sounds very much like Kees van Kooten's creation "De Vieze Man". Listen to 'Shit, wat ben je nat' and you'll know what I mean. Listen closely and you'll find three different guitar parts in the song also. Someone knows what he's doing there (and unreproducible on stage with one guitarist). It is songs like these that make the album better.

Theo Wesselo is not a singer in the way the term is meant to be used. No choir would ever let him in. In his role of poet-singer-provocateur he's well in place. His lyrics are clearly thought through well and aim for maximum effect. "Am I hearing what I'm hearing"? is one of those effects Wesselo strives for. I'm sure of that. His twists in the lyrics are delightful. The songs that are woven around his lyrics and melodies support them and make them worthwhile hearing. As I already wrote before, some of the songs on Het onderste uit de man are plain good. A great melody, well played and at times rocking hard.

The mix of styles on Het uiterste uit de man is intriguing to say the least. Hard rock or punk riffs are mixed with a small lead line on the guitar that is straight out of Dutch tearjerker music like André Hazes. The subtlety of 'Slot' is left behind halfway the song with a Suede like lead guitar and a strong rhythm that erupts under the lyrics, that are extremely moving. In an odd way. It is a song like this that shows that Wesselo's theme's go way beyond dirt and sleeze. It's the same sort of vulnerability he shows in 'Gozer (voor E.)'. About wishing that he was the guy he wanted to be when he was a little guy. The humour of 'Paranoia man' has some well found jokes in the lyrics over the fiercely pounding bass in the background.

When looking behind the first "shock" of some of the lyrics, when all the smoke and dirt of the vocal bombshells have landed, there's only one conclusion left to tell: Het onderste uit de man is a great album. Hausmagger has a rare quality that mixes the unmixable in one huge blend of great music. Poetry, sleeze, cabaret (Dutch style) and (punk)rock all fight for attention and all come up trumps.

Wo.

You can listen here to 'Fijne vent' here.