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I Can't Slow Down. Ramkot
Ramkot has become a staple band on WoNoBlog. The Belgian powertrio presents another song that rocks loud and allows the feet to start moving. Over ten years ago A Brand from Belgium took care of this combination but where did they go? Ramkot is filling some big shoes here. Brothers Tim and Tom Leyman and Hannes Cuyvers start their songs with some fierce drumming, assisted by a distorted bass guitar that is acting like a lead guitar and the actual guitar filling in on the accents the song needs. The voices soar over the song. Falsetto voices fly by as if The Scissor Sisters are back in town. Of course Ramkot would not be Ramkot if it didn't ram I Can't Slow Down home. Without ever losing sight of the song I Can't Slow Down is, the trio brings everything it can get to the composition. Yes, this song rocks and can be danced on. Golden combination.
Alvvays new album 'Blue Rev' is out already and here I am with the single. Belinda Says is one of these beautifully shining alternative pop pearls that are released every once and again. This song could have been recorded by any pop diva. With just a little less loud guitars and some synths or real violins any one of them would score a hit. Alvvays won't but shows the world in no uncertain terms what a great pop song it can write and record. The Canadians combine alternative rock in a perfect way with pop. Just listen to how the song starts. Soft piano notes before the band goes for it, with singer Molly Rankin singing with a bittersweet voice stealing the show right away. The soft interlude is the equivalent of the musical calm before the storm. Belinda Says is an alternative pop hit in my book.
And all of a sudden there was a major buzz: a new single by Queen, with Freddy Mercury! In other words this must be a left over from a session at some point in the band's career. And it is, from 'The Miracle' sessions. The band's 1989 album with the song that should have become number 1 but got stuck in second place, 'I Want It All', like 'We Are The Champions' did in 1977. So much for history. How is Face It Alone?
For Queen it is a tremendously bare song. No huge vocal or band explosions, no super big guitar solo. The focus lies totally on Freddy Mercury's voice and is, almost, always a pleasure to listen to. And the more I listen to the new single, the more I like it. It has taste and the majestic aura the best Queen songs have, with a Mercury in real form. He takes on the track full force, while holding back most of the time, with feeling galore.
My guess was that this was a track the band did not really know what to do with and never finished. It didn't fit in with the rest. Looking it up on Wikipedia it seems like a right guess. The band, May - Taylor, went into the studio with the engineers and finished it to what we hear now. The single for the upcoming re-release of 'The Miracle' in November with five other never before released songs. The world was presented a strong new Queen song last week (with over 5 million views on You Tube in just a few days!).
Let's spread a little darkness too. Italian trio Modern Stars, Andrea Merolle, Barbara Margani and Andrea Sperduti, are not afraid of closing out the light in its music. This is Soft Cell during a blackout. All synths out and guitars amplified via a diesel generator. Drowning is a mid-tempo song that drags its feet slowly but surely. The song is part of a concept album called 'Space Trips For The Masses', to be released on November 11th. The story is inspired by space travel for the rich. We can all think about that what we like, it will continue anyway. Drowning is the single. Length over 8 minutes. The darkness is something that needs to be dealt with to be able to sit through this length. Once I let it in the song can become mesmerising. The effects on the guitar, the monotonous pounding on the drums simply wash over me. The Velvet Underground anyone? Yes, Modern Stars is familiar with the group at the heart of all music like this and if not of the children and grandchildren of The Velvets.
Wow, wat een verrassing. Deze single zag ik niet aankomen op basis van de voorgaande zes songs van De Toegift die op dit blog voorbij zijn gekomen. Ja, bijna alle songs zijn anders en kennen een andere aanpak. Hier gaan pop, jazz en performance samen. De Toegift, Supersister The Avonden, Ramses Shaffy, Krang, oosterse invloeden, Bowie tijdens 'Aladdin Sane', het zit allemaal in Alles Is Gemaakt. De dwarsfluit van Carmela Michailidis speelt een grote rol, zowel mooi als totaal vervreemdend. Zeker in wat ik maar de solo zal noemen. Het valt me op hoe gewaagd ik deze single vind. Hij is zo anders dat het heel veel mensen kan afschrikken, mensen die De Toegift zich nog maar net, misschien, aan zich heeft verbonden. Ik ben echter behoorlijk enthousiast. Alles Is Gemaakt is een enorm rijk nummer, hoe vreemd het ook is. Totaal psychedelisch en raar, maar daarom niet minder sterk. Zoals ik al schreef: wow, wat een verrassing!
Flight Attendant was on the blog about a week ago with its debut, self-titled album but I like Honeysweet so much you can find the band once again on the blog. Let me call Honeysweet the band's big ballad. The combination of Karalyne's higher voice sits so well with the male voices and violinist's Nikki Christie's voice. The result is delicate harmonies that adorn this song in a simply perfect way. The other attraction is the combination of U.S. powerpop. Whether the Gin Blossoms or whatever band you prefer, with a pop element that even reminds me of Madonna's better songs, it all comes together in Honeysweet. Flight Attendant proves it is a band to watch in the future.
Duo Karamelien, Léanie Kaleido and Mark Foster, take the mood down some more. Lionhearts is a delicate ballad. A digital rhythm with a synth bed around it is the undergrowth of the single. Soft, delicate guitar notes played by Foster provide part of the atmosphere, with all around it other keys and synths playing softly and delicate notes all around. Over this, almost new age, mood Kaleido sings her song in a way that sometimes almost detonates with the soft mood. Lionhearts seems to also want to be a Florence + Machine song. Almost, but I can imagine it in those huge proportions and remain just as good. As this is what Lionhearts is, a beautiful ballad where Karamelien excels. Admitted, I cannot imagine myself getting through a whole album of Lionhearts, but this song as such really has it. It deserves far more than the 250 views it has so far. (Compare that to Queen, man what a difference!) This song deserves to be heard.
And, yes, Brad Marino returns to the blog as well. With perhaps his most The Ramones song to date. Marino lays on the pop element only slightly more but not the elementary rock The Ramones excelled in. Besides the farfisa organ solo, this is rock and roll with loud guitars and a pile of noise. That Girl is the lest subtle song I have ever heard by Brad Marino and it works from second one to second 136. As usual he does not need much more time to convince. The total sum of That Girl makes it more power than punkrock, true, but not less effective. That Girl is rock and roll for the ages. there's nothing 2022 about the song. It is timeless. It could have been released in 1977 and in 2054. The effect would have been, is and will be the same. Excitement all around.
Men who played in local Denver bands with names I never heard of and would never had heard of had not they kept on playing and recently formed a new band called Cyclo-Sonic. The bio mentions all these bands. All water under the bridge, here's Cyclo-Sonic. Men of a certain age that keep on rocking and rocking loud. This is Gibsons over Marshall stacks kind of music. The song captures an element of pop, with hard rock, punkrock and even a little metal. There's not a lot of subtlety to be found on The Brighter Side. Voices that have obviously aged but not the playing. That is full of energy and the spirit of youth. The Brigher Side sparkles.
Let's end with a wallop of punkrock. Durham's Marthas really go at it against its home country. Hope Gets Harder is all about the state of affairs in the U.K. Unfortunately, things did not get much better there after Marthas wrote and recorded the song. As this blog is not about politics, let alone economics, let's focus on the music. The anger and indignation shows in Hope Gets Harder. The band does not allow itself to pause for a second. The train rides at full speed and that's it. There seem to be no brakes at all. Just a few seconds when the bass plays has to go it alone for about two bars. The rest of the band takes a deep breath and off they all go again. "Everyday the hope gets harder", there's no time to lose here to get the message across. Only two more weeks before the album is released. 'Please Don't Take Me Back' it's called. Don't worry, Marthas. At this breakneck speed no one dares to turn this train around.
Wout de Natris
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