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Another week, another 10 singles for you on WoNoBlog. I am a fan of albums, as an album shows what an artist or band is truly capable of. Singles are the teaser these days, getting attention to a new album, to draw attention to on media platforms to earn money and to entice people to go to live shows. Who buys albums these days, right? When I was young, singles ruled and were sold by the millions, like views on modern day media. Having a number one hit truly set your favourite artist apart and felt almost like a personal victory. I wonder whether the youth of today even knows what a singles chart is. Time changes things and preferences.
This week we have a varied lot once again. Through the link provided below you can follow it all while reading and form your own views on those singles presented here.
Was It Just Me. Douwe Bob
It has been quiet around singer Douwe
Bob for some time. He had become almost impossible to avoid and maybe
just in time stepped a bit back so that people can look at him afresh
and look forward to hearing new music. His new single is as retro as
they come. With Was It Just Me Douwe Bob presents himself in the style
of singers of the 60s like Bobby Darin and Tim Hardin. His latest single
is a serious affair, a bit dark and full of doubt about his
relationship. The full orchestration and the acoustic guitar colour in
the song. The singer does what he is good at, presenting his song in such a way that he can use his voice to the fullest of its potential. Was It Just Me is a mature song for a gloomy
winter's day. A song where every care was given to the tiniest details
to make sure it gets noticed. Mission succeeded as Was It Just Me opens
this week's single round-up
This
American band presents its new single in a way that puts it in line with the new folk movement from circa 2010 and with a harder rock music. It is not
afraid to use a solid drums and attack the strings of the electric
guitar fiercely. Melodically I hear quite some similarities to the
movement Mumford and Sons started around 2010. The result is a song that
hangs somewhere in between and by this approach it carves out a little niche for itself. Singer Chris Kessenich is not afraid to truly go for
it and fully expose the rasp he has in his voice to the world. Add a
memorable chorus and an interesting lead guitar motive that returns
regularly and Horizon Eyes will get into your head alright.
The
1990s were not that old when I bought my first Grant Lee Buffalo album,
followed by a few others. The show with REM I had tickets to never
materialised due to medical issues on the REM side and then the band
disbanded and I lost track of Grant-Lee Phillips over the years. Come
2021 and I'm alerted to a double A sided single. Phillips' voice has
aged, sure. The lightness has left his vocal range, the softness hasn't.
Red Town is just so pleasantly familiar and shows that he can still
write a slow, languorous song that seems to not move forward. The kind
of song to get lost in in a pleasant way. Like in his former band's
signature song 'Fuzzy'. Pink Rebel is more uptempo and country and
western. His voice works well here as well. The peddle steel guitar
gives off its soft whine making the song even more melancholy than it
already is without it. It's been a while but the single is a nice
reintroduction to the music of this oh so nice singer.
Here
we go! The Cheap Cassettes jumps across the divide of time and space
into the past of punkrock of the 80s and 90s. It's EP kicks off with the
title song, that is nothing but a statement. This is what we stand for
and that is a melodic hardrocking punkrock song as they were made in the
U.S. of the 1980s and a little wilder by bands like Green Day in the
90s. The kind of song that has a clear beginning, middle and ending. A
song not afraid of containing a bridge nor a guitar solo and almost four
minutes at that. interesting opening line as well: "behind every great
man is a beautiful ghost now". By then the song is rocking for 100%. The
good news is that this level of music is continued by the Seattle band.
There's simply no doubting how much fun this band has in playing the
music it loves. That would be a detail at best be nice to know had the
songwriting skills not be as good as it is on See Her In Action! The
single 'Lil' Bit Everyday has already come by on these pages, but only
underscores how good this band is on this EP. This is rock and roll
folks!
The EP contains two live recorded songs. The quality
is copycat level at best, but does show the energy that The Cheap
Cassettes throw into its live shows. Fun to be at in other words.
What a show that was, Wolf Alice live in Amsterdam. When we still had those kind of things to go to. This weekend my last live show will be a whole week ago, just like my last football match. The next one, undoubtedly after the summer if not 2022.
Wolf Alice returns with a new single
and the start sounds so subdued that it seems to be a blueprint of a
band recording in times of Corona. The guitars have been replaced for a
stack of keyboards/synths. Ellie Rowsell totally takes control though.
She's the diva of the band, be sure of that. A singer with a vulnerable
voice but totally in control of her hard rocking band. Live and on
record. Despite my introduction above to The Last Man On Earth, rock Wolf
Alice does on its new single. In fact, this single takes the band into
stadium spheres. This song superbly built up. It shows a band ready for
the next step, just like album two frog-leaped album one. Should the
album to come have this quality then pop-rock stratosphere is the next
stop for Wolf Alice. The single even contains a Beatlesque interlude.
The Last Man On Earth is the kind of ballad the band so far only hinted
at being able to write. That ballad is now here and it is impressive.
There's no other word for it.
Yes, I have albums from The Datsuns but I really have to rack my brain here. A black and white cover and a coloured one come forward but only so faintly that it is hardly worth mentioning. The band totally faded from memory, I'm afraid.
And there is Flying Nun Records' newsletter
announcing a new album and single. Brain To Brain is a single from the
forthcoming album Eye To Eye. An aural storm is raging around my head.
If anything I am listening to a reinvention of Deep Purple's 'Fireball'.
A wild pace, an organ that rages darkly and a singer who is racing to
keep up, but manages better than Ian Gillan with 'Fireball' these days.
In short, Brain To Brain is a great classic rock song that holds some
elements from the psychedelic rock of the 60s but before all rocks
incredibly hard, with a blistering guitar solo and riff. After a few
listening sessions I am not yet ready to declare this single the saviour
of rock and roll but it certainly has put The Datsuns back in the
forefront of my mind. Rock and Roll lives!
"From morning till the end of the day". I have always loved The Kinks. From a very young kid right up to 2021. A widely under-appreciated band in my opinion. Not by Beebe Gallini that much is clear from listening to My Way Of Thinking. From the main riff right up to the Dave Davies styled guitar solo. It's all there. I'm quite sure that both Ray and Dave will greatly appreciate this tip of the hat by another musical generation.
Now
My Way Of Thinking is a cover from an original by a band called Randy
and the Radiants. That makes this single a double tribute. The band led
by singer Miss Georgia Peach tears itself through this song. The lead
guitar played by Moet Wong just about tears it to shreds. It sounds so
just right, totally dirty. Miss Peach's voice has the right edge to
match the playing. The background vocals apply the softer touch. All
together the band lays an enormous amount of energy into the whole,
sharing it to the world to tap into. So once let me cry out once more in this single round-up
edition: rock and roll lives.
What
goes around comes around, every once in a while, I still hear a band
like Bow Wow Wow coming by on the radio. Even Adam and the Ants. Enter
Coach Party. Although the drums are less pronounced, the subdued
enthusiasm certainly is present in abundance. Compared to the storm
called 'Can't Talk, Won't' Everybody Hates Me is a bland affair, by
comparison that is. Coach Party shows in this new single that it is able
to rock hard, is able to write a decent punkrock song. Above all it is
able to weave in some sounds that your average punk band avoids. The
little keyboard sounds that give this single the little extra a song
needs to distinguish itself. The work on the harmony vocals pays off.
The guitar solo finishes it off for me. 2-0 for Coach Party.
On
the debut album of Jade Bird I was surprised by the variation on it and
concluded it was a worthy debut for the then 21 year old U.K.
singer-songwriter. Her upcoming album was recorded in Nashville and this
is the last song she wrote and recorded there. Open Up The Heavens is a
alternative, mild rock song that makes the rough edge in Jade Bird's
voice really come out. From the get go it is clear that this single is
going for it. The guitars get a dominant position at the start but have
to move over for a more melodic approach working towards the chorus.
The more staccato verses are poised against the pre chorus and chorus,
giving the single two flavours. It results in a varied single and a nice
introduction for what is to come later this year.
Wo.
Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:
https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g
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