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Earlier this year I reviewed two singles by The Yummy Mouths. Oh, yes, they were nice, but they did not prepare me for the EP in the correct way. It turns out that UGH is even more powerful than I had expected it to be. Any band that starts out, needs to be able to make a distinct impression. The first singles should attract attention of all listeners who have not seen the band live in its forming stages. As the world has not been able to do so for 16 months, those first singles becomes even more important. The second one, 'Translunar Injection', certainly made a huge impression, but it is a song with a lot of changes, in the rhythm and feel, making it also an experimental, alternative rock song. UGH! is filled to the brim with that kind of energy. The Yummy Mouths refuse to get caught in one musical hole. Title song 'UGH!' morphs easily into an Arctic Monkeys' song in the style of '(I Bet You Look Good On The) Dance Floor'. There was not a lot giving that away when the song started. It's the kind of energy that the U.K. band seems to have lost over the past decade, while getting more famous instead.
The Yummy Mouths is Klaas Leyssen, Cis Druyts and Jef Krieckemand from Herentals. The trio is playing together for a few years and ready to conquer the world with the best garage rock song ever written, in their own words. Boasting? Of course, but with a hint of truth in it. The band certainly dares to explore the ranges of the traditional idiom of garage rock, resulting in some exceptional findings. Start with the band's first single, 'White Noise', the third song on the EP, and you hear the statement I was hinting at above. If this song doesn't catch your attention, you're listening to the wrong record/band. It's that simple, but of course, all a matter of taste.
With UGH! The Yummy Mouths makes its statement in a way that deserves attention and is a tremendous promise for the future. The blend of pop, alternative rock and enthusiasm is extremely compelling where listening is concerned. I'm a fan.
Once again rock from Italy. I'm listening to an intermediate EP between the second and third album of Ananda Mida, a band started by two gentlemen active in the music business who wanted to make music together. Drummer Max Ear and guitarist Matteo Pablo Scolara found each other in their love jams and 70s experimental, instrumental, psychedelic rock. Ananda Mida is extremely good at laying down a great groove over which the soloing guitarist is able to explore the theme at hand. At no time the technical proficiency, which is certainly present, takes the overhand. Melody is always leading in the instrumental tracks. It is in the third, vocal, track, a live rendition of 'The Pilot' that the box of tricks is opened by Ananda Mida. Thick accents, playing with the rhythm from classic hardrock tracks from an almost forgotten decade abound here. Singer Conny Ochs is no Jon Anderson or Ronny James Dio but copes very well here. Only three songs are present on Karnak but all take their time to play out. A nice introduction to Ananda Mida it is for me.
Jenn Champion moved to L.A. and shortly after arriving there she met Andrew Eapen who works under the name Oyster Kids. At that party they discovered to have a shared love for sad love songs. Legend has it that the very first session they played together rendered the song Love Nobody. "Don't wanna love nobody" sounds as desperate as 'Love, When You Don't Want It', my favourite The LVE songs. Both totally failed at keeping love out it appears.
The song is the kind of synthpop song that is hard to keep out as well. The kind that creeps into your ear and is loath to creep out again. Love Nobody (and second song 'Push') is both old and new. The synths could have come out of the 80s from then popstars like Nik Kershaw, while the beats are of the kind that could not be created so organically sounding at the time. The way Champion sings is very much late 10s and early 20s as well, making it a modern song. Especially in the bare remix of Love Nobody this becomes very clear. Over it Jenn Champion sings with a kind of blue sounding voice, pushing the songs into the melancholy realm. Without being utterly brilliant the two songs, the third as said is a remix of Love Nobody, Jenn Champion's collaboration with Oyster Kids fully succeeds. Quite the introduction this EP is.
French alternative darkwave rockers Versari return to the blog with an EP called Brûle after the title track. First the band looked at its song Brûle again and took its instruments with it. The result is a brilliant dark track, where the heavy rhythms of the drums and the very present bass allow for the lead guitar to go full out, laying down solos and soundscapes giving Brûle a very mysterious feel. The pulsing tone that the single starts with is an alert for what is to come. The singing in a way is in stark contrast with the music as much as it is underscoring it. It is so relaxed. A deep voice having no hurry in any way versus the lead guitar that knows little boundaries, keeps the song as a whole balanced, while at the same time a much different vocal melody or even way of singing is very imaginable.
The remixes bring a totally different vibe to Brûle. Gareth Jones turns it into an 80s song with dark undertones. The extremely busy electronic beats turn it into something completely different as well. The second remix is by Erica Nockalls, best known for her work with The Wonder Stuff. Here Brûle gets a full electronic treatment, turning it into something nearly unrecognisable. At times totally weird at times creating something new that is fully worthwhile hearing.
'Des Images' is remixed by School Daze. The electronic beats are of the kind that I haven't heard for ages. Tubeway Army, circa 1990 Depeche Mode, that kind of beats. No matter how outdated this may sound, it works for 'Des Images'. Anybody wanting to dance to a new song with over 30 year old rhythms, this is your song. Almost as if the song was frozen into a glacier and discovered because of it thawing. Caught in time, released into the now.
(Versari recently released a video for Brûle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u695fZdFkI)
Wout de Natris
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