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Moment. One Morning In August
Trio One Morning In August is from the southeast of Ireland, Isn't that the part of the country with the most sunshine and least rain? If so, it explains the light touch of Moment. Although the song may have some moodiness over it, it also has that kind of laziness coming with too much sunshine. John F. Phelan sings and plays his guitar in such a relaxed way that all I want to do is close my eyes and listen (no, not fall asleep!). The bass follows in kind. It is Stephen T. Byrne's drums that sets another pace. A "Road To Nowhere' kind of drumming. Walking down the road without stopping. The combination works. What strikes me is that this song has an 80s vibe over it. A laidback version of Tears for Fears, Then Jericho, Big Country, just to name a few examples. One Morning In August most likely did not have a tenth of the budget these bands had at the time to record, but still comes up with a great sound. I'm guessing here but it seems very likely to me. Moment simply sounds so good.
Portland, Oregon band Inny officially exists since 2018 but the three members play together for about a decade. The song starts as if Green Day is back where it started in the mid 90s. The fat Mike Dirnt kind of bass playing is all over The Eternal Contest. Inny takes its own road soon, playing a far looser form of punk rock. The Eternal Contest is a single of the album 'Poppin'', announced for 16 December. Reading the rest of the bio Inny is far more than a punk rock band. That may be, the hints at emo are present in its single, as is some heavy duty playing. The Eternal Contest is a punk rock song that will gets heads poppin' up and down alright.
This song got me a little confused. My Misery Will Bury You is the title of a 7" single, but not the title of the song on it. That is 'Wilt' and there are two versions of the song on the 7", already sold out. The original version is from the album Madison (2021) by the band Sloppy Joe, that once upon a time featured Phoebe Bridgers on bass. The second version is a stripped down cover version by Bridgers. So much for the blurb. Sloppy Jane is a totally new name to me. And Wilt is a beautiful song. At some points somewhat estranging but full of emotion and slowly but surely building the emotions up, without reaching catharsis. All of a sudden the song fizzles out in a modest way. In between I've heard beautiful singing, a great piano part and a song that still surprises well into the third listening session. My appetite for listening to 'Madison' is certainly wetted.
The Men, an impossible name on the internet of course, set the clock back to 1963 with its single Hard Livin'. This is 'Louie Louie', The Kingsmen's most famous song, all over. Add a little 'All Day And All Of The Night' to end up with The Stooges and the scene is right where The Men want it to be. It is as if nothing has been released ever since. My apologies, I'm forgetting 'Kick Out The Jams' here. 'Hard Livin' combines it all as if it jumped out of a time machine onto the streets of New York City, totally surprised that only people in their late sixties and early seventies are jumping around, with a walker, cane or still fully self-functioning. This single is the real thing alright. What an energy, what a sound. If it had been on the first MC5 album or on Iggy & The Stooges' 'Raw Power', I would not have been surprised for one second. Wow is the word here.
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The single was released in time for Halloween, my review isn't. There are simply too many singles being released to keep up with. Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) comes by anyway, because it has a great vibe and inner tension coming with the territory. Today (as in writing) Thriller 40 was released and Bloodletting, while musically quite different, has the exactly same vibe as Michael Jackson's huge hit, as a trendsetting video and single. The video for Bloodletting is totally different. Its vibe certainly matches as well. Goth as Goth comes in the dark 'Batman' series. Fish Mooney's club could have featured here as a backdrop for the video. Michael Ciravolo's vocal delivery does the job to finish it all off. The saxophone of The Psychedelic Furs' Mars Williams deserves a mention as well. He moves freely through the goth rock song like a snake towards its prey. "HAAAAA", like Ciravolo sigh sings.
Those who pay attention will have noticed Black Market Karma on the blog recently, as well as Tess Parks' recent album. The latter returns on the second single of the former of its upcoming album 'Friends In Noise' (25 January). Tess Parks has a vocal quality that convinces me with ease to imagine her singing from beyond the grave. Lucky for her she isn't and she can actually enjoy a collaboration like The Sky Was All Diseased. In a way this single is a dull affair. The same chords keep going round and round. The vocal delivery has nothing exiting and this does not change when Stan Belton takes over the vocal duties. This is not a traditional duet between two singers. They sing separately. Yet, The Sky Was Not Diseased has the same quality as a The Velvet Underground song that keeps on going, here without Mo Tucker's up front, pounding drumming, and puts you in a trance. This is that kind of song.
Belgian label Fons Records returns to this blog with the first single of Crooked Steps' upcoming album, 'Sambucca Dreams'. Once again, a step back in ancient musical history. Crooked Steps starts with whistling like øyvind of Kaizers Orchestra in the intro of Casse-Toi, only to incorporate Dick Dale into the music of the late Norwegian band when the single truly starts. True, when I hear the 10th song in the surf genre, I have had more than enough. Casse-Toi being the first today, it only makes me smile, and the some more. A song like this is simply great fun. Don't get me wrong, this trio can play. The notes are flying out of the guitar, the bass pumps and the drums pound in a 1960 surf kind of way. Crooked Steps makes a genre of the past totally come alive again. 'Sambucca Dreams', its debut album, comes out somewhere in spring 2023. Without doubt another single will be shared in the meantime.
More music from Belgium, incomparable, except for the energy and the obvious fun in playing. Black Mirrors is an alternative rock band moving towards metal. Snake Oil is the second single of the album with the optimistic title 'Tomorrow Will Be Without Us', out since 4 November. I doubt Black Mirrors lived up to its album title. It is song with a huge sound. Drums, bass and rhythm guitar all play together to create a huge sound over which the lead guitar plays its accents and, loud, underscores. Over it singer Marcella di Trioa at times bellows her lyrics. She is a storm all by herself. What makes Snake Oil an interesting song, is the force it is as a whole but also the details the band found to embellish its storm. There is so much going on. Black Mirrors found a fifth and sixth idea to put into the song, building it ever up towards a great climax.
I have no idea how this single came my way. It doesn't matter. This a great alternative rock song. Don't expect a cover from Spencer Davies Group's fantastic hit single with the same name. The Shrubs play totally their own song. Keep On Runnin' starts as if it is a dismal live recording, before the sounds becomes "more official". From that moments onwards the song has come totally alive. Looking at the band members' pictures on its website, the threesome is closer to my age than the youthful exuberance they share in their music. A slightly tougher version of Brad Marino or Geoff Palmer but certainly of the same elk. Keep On Runnin' fits in with the Rum Bar crowd for certain. A nicer introduction to a garagy rock band is hard to imagine. This single is wild and exiting, folks!
Somewhere over the past two years I would have gone to a Frank Carter show. We all know how that ended. Apparently he played with great success quite recently in The Netherlands. I missed it. Now the band is back with a new single. It has the energy that comes with the territory. This band knows how to kick up a storm and translate that into energy to be released by all involved in playing and listening. Parasite holds that all. It could be getting used to Frank Carter and band but at this point in time I'm slightly disappointed. The new single doesn't make the cut where the quality of the previous album 'Sticky' is concerned. 'Sticky' pushed the bar up so high, it may be hard to jump over it again. If not for that level of punkrock musicianship, Parasite would have been a great single. There is a downside to perfection, unfortunately.
Wout de Natris
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