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Ain't No Thief. Viagra Boys
Viagra Boys is from Sweden but easily fits in with the new bands coming out of Ireland and the U.K. for the past circa 4 years. In other words, expect energy, excitement and that somehow perfect mix of pop and rock. All breathes alternative rock in Ain't No Thief but beware of the melodies, which make the song so good to listen to. In 'Ain't No Thief' some mad-chester rhythms are thrown in for good measure and second or third generation mad-chester descendents like Kasabian excitement. This makes the song so danceable. The beat just keeps on going and going. The fun cannot be much bigger here.
Another alternative dancetrack. Sinead O'Brien's track There Are Good Times Coming is far more modern than Viagra Boys'. But not a lot less exciting, certainly more stylised. The drums and bass are far more contained, as are the guitars. Sinead O'Brien's voice is leading on this track. She is on top of her single. Her vocal delivery is erratic and allowed to spread out all over the track. The words are placed where necessary and not within the format. Although she's singing, there is a similarity to rap in her delivery. In a way this sets her apart from the musicians behind her, while creating a, if not perfect then certainly close to it, fit. Where the music is concerned Wet Leg comes to mind in the way There Are Good Times is presented as a whole. The single is very 2022 while having one feet firmly in the past. There's so much energy. It makes me curious to learn more.
U.S. - Spanish band The Mochines releases its EP having released the title song as a single earlier this year. For once I can quote myself from Rum Bar Records' promotions, as there is not much I can add here: "The combo plays that dirty kind of rock and roll that verges on punk and
garage rock, with a strong shuffle being kept up alternating with
distinctive accents and riffing, while the drums and bass keeps pounding
the listener into moving. A dirty sounding voice and a couple of fiery
guitar solos to put a nice finish on the whole. Catch Me rocks, but you
got that message already I hope". The Mochines take it from there on Catch Me. There's nothing clean about this music. This is the kind of music that is made after a long hard-working and greasy day, underneath an American classic car, keeping it up and perfectly running. What other music can you then make but classic punk & roll? The Mochines do just that and along the way make the roof leave the ceiling, as there's not enough room underneath it to contain all this energy. In the past month the band toured all over Spain and France. What fun that must have been.
Starting Without U is the debut single of Wytiki. She is a musician having earned her place by supporting artists like DeWolff and Eefje de Visser with her background vocals. Recently she stepped to the foreground, wanting to start her own career as a singer and songwriter. Wytiki in daily life is called Wieteke Wijte. I couldn't make anything of this artist's name until I read her real name and understood the pun, that all English speaking people will not get just like that.
Starting Without U is a song with a nice suspension bow building up all over the song. Fully electronic, including on her voice, the song at first did not seem to be for me, but slowly but surely the vibe of the song got to me. Without any extreme effort the song can bring the listener into a trance and finally make him/her dance like there's no tomorrow. At heart it remains the same song, the created beat underneath it does the rest. The psychedelic and acoustic ending in the video makes the song even more intriguing. It shows what an inventive artist can do within the same confines.
More punkrock from Germany. Trixsi returns to the blog with its new single Schlangenmann. The song is extremely fast, there's no holding back for anyone in the band, except for singer Jörkk Mechenbier. In the verses he takes his time, comparatively, to follow the pace totally in the choruses. In the segment of German punky rock I'm currently listening to, I have always had one favourite: Spider Murphy Gang's 'Skandal Im Sperrbezirk'. And here, what is it, 35, 40 years later?, Schlangenmann presents itself to me and my German punkrocking universe is shaking on its foundations. Schlangenmann really, truly rocks, with a chorus of pure gold. From the very first minute the song went straight into my heart and mind. It's one of the best songs I've heard this year.
Whatever comes after Schlangenmann will always have a very hard time to compete. What comes after heaven? The question has to be asked whether heaven even exists. That said, Schlangenmann must be part of it. editors returns to the scene, after the, in my ears, in the end somewhat disappointing album 'Violence' of 2018. Of course Heart Attack's mood remains somewhat dark. It comes with Tom Smith's postpunk voice. The outset of the song is the 00s postpunk revival editors once started in, about 20 years ago already. Once I shook of Trixsi's memory, I notice the groove editors has given Heart Attack and the pop feel accompanying this groove. It makes the song extremely danceable and singable. The light synths accentuate the 80s feel as much as Rammstein's pop metal. The vocal melody contains a Bowieesque element as well. In short, editors manages to introduce its upcoming album in no little way. The beat just keeps pulsing thanks to the synth. The lead guitar puts the icing on the cake. Simply among its best singles Heart Attack is.
Sorry? I had to look up when I reviewed '925', Sorry's debut album. Only just over two years ago, I found. A bit surprised at that. It felt at least a year longer. '925' was played regularly for a while but inevitably landed in that huge reservoir of music from the past. With There's So Many People That Want To Be Loved the duo plots the next step in its career. What I hear is a alternative pop song. It starts fully hesitant, as if Sorry is not sure it wants to continue its career. On the new single it's Asha Lorenz taking the lead. Looking things up in Wikipedia to refresh my memory, I found that Sorry is not a duo at all, it is a five piece band. In the meantime There's So Many People That Want To Be Loved slowly fleshes out into an ever nicer track. Sorry truly fills in the song making it very attractive to listen to. It was about time for a reintroduction and it goes down really well.
Not the best name for a band in 2022 to have, looking at the images coming out of Ukraine. Australia is far away and the band is around since 2010. With a new singer Dead City Ruins is ready to take on the world. The children of Guns 'N' Roses are all grown up, take a riff from Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' and off the band goes with this hardrock track. Hardrock can be full of nostalgia as well for things that once were, Huge guitars that play huge riffs, hair everywhere and a high soaring singer. The only ingredient needed is a good song and with Preacher Dead City Ruins delivers it. Yes, we veterans have heard it all before, but a good new song is always welcome.
Miss Georgia Peach must be living in a record studio. She's cranking out more records then I can keep up with. With her band The Short Fuses she has contributed to a The Go-Go's tribute album, recording the song How Much More in tribute to the all girl punkrock, pop, powerpop of old. As that band never did much over here, this is a song I've never heard before. The Short Fuses really lay it down here. The tempo is so fast, the melody so fine, in short rock and roll to the max. Miss Georgia Peach makes the song totally her own, with some nice harmonies supporting and enlarging her voice. The interplay between the two guitarists, Justin Staggs and Travis Ramin is great. Miss Peach takes care of that tough bass racing throughout the song. Chris Audette drums the song home in a great way. With 'Dawn Of The Deaf' the band entered my life last year. It seems as though its here to stay, to quote a famous singer.
We're going out this week with another batch of noise. Sweden's Iron Lamb has a singer that doesn't mind to exert his vocal chords a little and then some. This is a true rock singer alright. Behind him the band provides the huge riffs. Dirty, as if they have not washed and shaved themselves for weeks on end. Total Noise holds a good melody and Iron Lamb has put painstaking work into the details of its new single. Where Dead City Ruins make tough music but wants to look and sound nice, Iron Lamb goes the whole way. Everything around this song is tougher and yes, dirtier. It is some way to announce a new album alright. At face value this song is so tight. The guitar solo is raging. "Whoa", shouts the singer before he starts. The right way and the right statement to start Total Noise. Expect just that, but brought by a band that does not forget that a song needs to be what it is: a song.
Wout de Natris
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