Overlooking this week's selection, I'm afraid that there are not a lot of points where the average listener can take a breath and relax. There's a simply a lot of rock and roll here. In the form of rockabilly, classic rock, alternative rock, garage rock, punk rock and what not. It's exciting though and even a few beautiful rock songs among them. Good luck!
Relievio. The Gypsy Moths
The Gypsy Moths from Boston with Relievio relives the 1960s, musically. The music is certainly The Beatles inspired, from 1964-66 era and incorporates that typical piano sound from the hits of The Kinks. For the outro psychedelia is unleashed on the non-suspecting listener, taking the rather innocent song straight into a spiked, musical adventure. The close listener may have heard a few hints already. The warped voice, the keyboard playing warbly, wavy parts. The backwards guitar solo and the Chris Wood like flute part do the rest. Not to mention that typical rhythm! But what about the song itself?, I hear you wonder. Relievio is a very nice pop song, with a few distinctive features, I've just highlighted for you.
Europa. Die NervenIt has been silent around Die Nerven. One of its members surfaced in another band last year. How old the song Europa is, I do not know. Two months? Two years? To state that the lyrics are a sign of the times, is like kicking in an open door. "I thought somehow that one never died in Europa? A whole of people, including many politicians built their career around that presumption. And then came February 24. "Eine Zeitenwende", as the German chancellor called it. Of course, this song can be about the general realisation of a younger man, that death is more a part of life than he ever thought possible. Just like the death of Charlie Watts last summer was my final realisation. When a Rolling Stone dies, what hope is left for the rest of us? On a more philosophical level, this song could be about the wake up call "Europe" and we all got. History is never over, Mr. Fukuyama.
Musically Europa has two faces. A soft, small beginning, slowly working its way to the central line of the song. In the second, larger part Die Nerven do what they are good at: creating lots of noise over a punkrocking song. The guitar sheds its noise out in waves over the solid bass and drums. Impressive single Europa is.
Cinnamon Sea EP. The Garbage & The Flowers
The Garbage & The Flowers is a band from Wellington that is around in some form or another since the 1990s. On its recently released EP, my introduction, it presents five new songs which the band works itself through. Works, yes. It is as if the musicians are wading hip high through the mud, progressing slowly but surely. Along the way it took a long pause at the The Velvet Underground well and drank abundantly from it. From there the musicians transported the music a few decades, while focusing more on the melodic side than the experimental one. Enter a keyboard and a fairly clean sounding piano.
Yuri Frusin and Helen Johnstone met in the 1980s as teenagers and agreed they wanted to be in a band. The ambition became reality, no matter how obscure the band remained. Cinnamon Sea is not going to alter much about its state, I'm afraid. All people liking alternative, ramshackle rock better pay attention, because beauty has not been thrown before swine on Cinnamon Sea, despite all that mud I started out this review with. The Garbage & The Flowers knows exactly what it is doing and this EP attests to that ambition.
She Just Wants To Rock And Roll. DiablogatoIt is over 40 years ago The Stray Cats learned a whole new generation what rockabilly was. The fun did not last too long, as it had something of gimmick as well. The fun stuck with true fans, who moved on to a band like The Paladins around 1990 or The Living End later into the decade. Enter this devil's cat, Diablogata. A band stemming from Boston as well but catering a totally different audience than The Gypsy Moths in the above. She Just Wants To Rock And Roll keeps the tempo at a moderate level. It plays it cards out in a smart way. A singer with a great voice for souped-up rockabilly, a great twangy lead guitar, a rhythm section that keeps the beat going and a baritone sax taking care of the deeper end. The vocal melody is the kind anyone can sing along to immediately. It sounds extremely familiar, but that is this single's strong point. She just wants to rock and roll? What about all of us?
The Gram. BongloardBongloard, from Utrecht in The Netherlands, is a band that wants to cook up a storm. In The Gram the band does not hold back for a second. Listen to that bass go. Whole melodies fly around in a murderous tempo. The drummer is pounding away. Last week, I wrote on the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets from Perth. They played Kula Shaker songs without the India influence, except for the vocal melodies. This is a great starting point for this single. At first glance this is rock. Loud, huge, a wall of sound. Until the psychedelia comes in in the singing, in the interlude, in the tempo changes. Anyway who can stand the loudness of the music, will discover the elements of the trip Bongloard takes the listener on. It all results in a great song, full of energy, fun, seriousness. The Gram was released to announce the band's debut album, 'People Overreacting To My Behaviour' (20 May). Something to catch up on soon.
Feeling 'Bout This. Hot BreathHot Breath from Götenburg in Sweden can finally tour again, and will travel Europe's high and by ways for a few months this spring and early summer. To celebrate this the band released a stand alone single this spring, following its album 'Rubbery Lips' (2021). Feeling 'bout This is a fairly straight rock song. Led by a true rock chick, Jennifer Israelsson, the band sets itself somewhat apart in this way. Israelsson totally stands her ground in the rock the four piece makes. Including a blistering guitar solo, Starting with a bass run, tight, up tempo, the bass leads the band into a song that does not relent until the last second.
Don't Dare. Simon McBrideMore rock comes from Simon McBride, a guitarist who has made a name for himself in the classic rock world by playing with a host of big names from the past. In fact, he is replacing Steve Morse in Deep Purple, who is on a break due to personal circumstances. It gives McBride the option to shine his light on his first solo album a little more. Don't Dare is the most recent single from 'The Fighter' (27 May). Listening to the song, it is no surprise that Simon McBride is associated with rock icons of the past. Don't Dare is the kind of song that incorporates many elements of classic rock with the sound of today. The effects are better, the recording technique and studios better utilised. That would all be worthless observations had Don't Dare been a uninteresting song. It is not. The huge riffs, the vocal melody, the dynamics, the guitar playing, the big drums, they all fall into place. It all leads to one conclusion: Simon McBride dares to be himself alright.
Modern Times. Orange SkylineSome years ago, I went to a graduation party of the Amsterdam conservatory. I saw Elenne May, Dakota and Orange Skyline perform. Elenne May is my favourite of the three, but alas, also the most obscure. Dakota released a great record but had to stop and is now called Loupe. Orange Skyline returns with a new single in 2022. The band with a singer who likes to look like Liam Gallagher, still gets its inspiration from the Britpop years and what came just before it, the Mad-chester era. Modern Times is not so modern, in other words. The fun is not less because of it. Orange Skyline manages to incorporate the drums of the likes of The Happy Mondays with the pop of The Charlatans and Primal Scream. The song is great and the level of harmonies just so right, This is high-level pop music by a band that knows exactly what it is doing. It is the best one I've heard from the band so far and of a kind I do not mind to trade in my Hurricane #1 album for (should I be forced to do so).
Late in July the German rock duo Delta Bats will release its debut album, 'Here Come The Bats'. Guitar, heavily distorted and drums are the only instruments you hear underneath the heavy duty singing. (Although I'm pretty sure there's a tough bass involved as well.) Delta Bat is a song that plays homage to ZZ Top. The whole way of playing the guitar is in Billy Gibbons' style. The difference being the enormous layer of distortion on the guitar and bass. Everything is tighter, louder and rougher. I'm sure that Billy, Dusty (God rest his soul, if necessary) and Frank will certainly give a friendly nod when hearing Delta Bat. This is rock and roll as it was meant by a part of the rock and roll gods. The video starts off in a way that certainly sets a viewer on the wrong foot. The change to this single is more than welcome though.
Earth Sick. PomAmsterdam band Pom returns to this blog with a tough song. Not all of it, though. Pom surely uses dynamics in a strong way, including going all out, which is not avoided in any way. The song starts around a nice intro, built around one guitar effect or another. Underneath it, the rhythm is tight, in the verses. Just bass and drums with an embellishment creating extra accents. In the chorus the band lets it all hang loose. A nice contrast is created, that makes Earth Sick noticeable and exciting. In the lyrics you can listen to singer Liza van As scooting off to Mars where she builds a house and starts a farm. Just as long "as they can't follow us" and "far away from my shitty life". Escapism in rock is not an unfamiliar theme of course, so why not to Mars? To turn escapism into something exciting gives rock an extra layer. Earth Sick is a song that Pom can take on the road alright. I already see exploding venues in my mind's eye.
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.jpg "Foto: Astrid van der Meijs")
