Crumb and Juan Wauters

Today two albums that were in fear of dropping of the list but together found a spot on the blog: Ice Melt by Crumb and Real Life Situations by Juan Wauters.

Ice Melt. Crumb

It took Crumb five years to release it's second album, following 'Jinx' (2016). While working on Ice Melt the world caved in on itself and that affected Ice Melt according to the band. What I hear is an alternative indie band presenting itself as if in lockdown. The mood of the album in general is closed and subdued. The sound is kept small with only mild excursions into beats or exuberance. The voice of singer Lila Ramani is soft, always just above the music, making band and singer almost one.

The New York based band went to L.A. to work with producer Jonathan Rado (of Foxygen fame) on Ice Melt. If I had to point to his influence, it is e.g. in the change in 'Trophy', where the tempo and mood of the song totally change into something else.

What I notice is that the rhythms on Ice Melt are extremely bare and dry in sound. Almost as if recorded from under a thick eiderdown, synthetic in sound. This results in the subdued sound of the album. This is rather surprising as drummer Jonathan Gilad is capable of playing, in my ears, complex rhythms like in 'Balloon'. A fact that deserves some more emphasis in my humble ears.

All in all it makes Ice Melt an album that is hard to instantly like, while at the same time I think it is an album that is more than just nice to know. It's an album that takes more effort to appreciate. That is one step ahead of Jinx that I remember not taking up all those years ago. Just listen for starters to that lazy rhythm of the title song and I'm sure you'll know what I mean, when I tell you that listening to Ice Melt is worth the effort.

Real Life Situations. Juan Wauters

The track list of Real Life Situations is 21 songs long. Are you kidding me?, I found myself asking before listening to the album. Especially because it was announced as a Latin album and that is not my music.

It turns out to be an album with spoken word sections in between and a hybrid of many musical styles. A little Latin, modern rhythms, hip hop, pop and even more. It results in an album that is free flowing, interrupted by the spoken word that is not for me. I was quite happy to hear a song like 'Locura'. Jarabe de Palo has stopped because of Pau Dones' death last year and now I hear a song like 'Locura'. Dones' lives on alright in a more modern setting.

Juan Wauters is not afraid to throw in a little alternative rock-hop like the Beastie Boys were capable of or Dog Eat Dog, but all a little softer and nicer. 'Presentation' is softer of tone while also edgier. A lot is going on in the song besides the groove that certainly is going and going.

The dance influences are not all on my good side ('Unity') but as a whole Real Life Situations is an album that is quite nice. All these influences blend in into the groove Wauters created. The spoken word section reminds me of Manu Chao's successful solo albums of the 00s. Juan Wauters is a less radical descendent, as he is far more easy going in his songs. The songs as such are no amalgam of street recording, just the interludes are. It's his ode to radio and to surrender. As such it works.

And for all those English speaking folks wondering how to pronounce my name, you all go 100% wrong, for which you are excused, it's the same as Juan's family name, but how does one pronounce that in English? (Spoiler, it's like wow, with a t at the end, dropping the second w.)

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Ice Melt here:

https://crumbtheband.bandcamp.com/

and Real Life Situations here:

https://juanwauters.bandcamp.com/album/real-life-situations

 

or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g