Infinity Song. Robin Kester
With
thanks to Amber Arcades, who will tour The Netherlands with Robin Kester
as support act, I got to know this artist. It's totally understandable
that this duo going on tour together; based on one song that is. Infinity Song has the
energy 'Fading Lines' has. Robin Kester, from Groningen, has two EPs to
her name, from 2018 and 2020 and is about to release her debut album.
Most likely delayed by the pandemic with one or two years. That's the
story of all our lives. Infinity Song is an up tempo, alternative rock
song, with a strong rhythm, drums and bass are extremely tight, the
drums perhaps a machine it's so tight. Over it some atmospherics and
electronics hover over and behind the song, while guitars are allowed to
go all out here and there. Robin Kester sings over it in a dreamy,
almost absent way. Enter, Amber Arcades. Fun fact. Before Infinity Song I
listened to the new Peter Gabriel single. The songs are somewhat
similar, where the atmosphere is concerned. And look who has made it to
this week's singles and who hasn't (hint: boring).
Some
independent (punk) rock from the U.K. This band has raged over the
stages of Europe and the U.S. following a string of no less than 30
singles and four albums. Here's number 31 presaging number 5, 'Roden
House Blues' set for May. Shakin' Ain't Fakin' lets it all hang out.
The Hip Priests mix everything from AC/DC, Guns 'N' Roses and a lot of
punk rock into a storm of a song. Filled with strong hooks and a chorus
to raise fists and shout along to. The energy caught on record must
match a live show as more is humanly impossible to receive and maybe
produce and share as well. Shakin' Ain't Fakin' is the real thing alright.
Oh,
yeah. Some delicious slacker punk rock from NYC's The Men. Or, call it a
punk ballad, whatever you prefer. The sound is all what it needs to be,
it's the tempo that has gone somewhere into the mid section. The Men hit
the nail on the head anyway. All through the song a slide guitar wails
away, as if Billy Ray Cyrus has found his way into a rougher scene. The
rest of the band pretends as if the tempo has not been brought down. In
the background the drummer is pounding away and driving the song forward
as loud as he can. The singer's voice is as rough as can be (here).
Just like the guitars are. All in all, Anyway I Found You is a ballad
making me even more curious of the album. 'New York City' is out on 3
February.
The first 3FM
talent of 2023. It is honourous of course but who listen to 3FM these
days? I'm not, for several years, and most likely Skipping Stone was not
made for people my age. That apart, I've decided to give the song a
fair chance. And, yes, it has something, a certain star quality, but
does not convince me fully. Let me explain. Ever since a new generation
of female singers broke big in this country, for some reason they all
sing the same way and that makes it almost impossible to keep them
apart. Next to that, néomí musically sounds like Duncan Lawrence with a
guitar added. The song does have an atmosphere that makes me listen to it and
prick up my ears. For now I am somewhere in between. There's a new EP
underway and I'll certainly give it a chance.
Utopia
is the kind of song that truly sets the listener on the wrong foot. It
starts with a singer and an acoustic guitar. Enter the band and a big
fat Hammond organ (sound?). The start could be the beginning of a fast
country song. The ending is more like Dropkick Murphies without the uilleann pipes and other Irish stuff. The vocal duties are shared as well giving making
Utopia an even more varied song. It's only two weeks ago that 'Tell Me'
features on these pages and here is a new single already. A totally
different one at that, as Utopia is far more hard rock combined with
Celtic punk rock. The energy level Grande Royale shares is about the
same. The Swedish band is on track to a great record. Expect 'Welcome To
Grime Town' somewhere in March.
There's
no limit to Karen Jonas' music it seems. With Rock The Boat she takes
on another boundary and takes it as if their was no boundary at all.
Rock The Boat moves from a pseudo blues song from the 1920s to a modern
alternative country song bordering on an alternative rock ballad. The
tension build up in this single grows towards huge proportions without a
final release. Instead the song is wound down once again. All through
the past decades I've heard songs like this from folksy
singer-songwriters. What Karen Jonas adds is an atmosphere as if she's escaped
from the netherworld. Ghostlike sounds are all over Rock The Boat.
Somewhere she sings "don't be afraid to die". With a song like this in
my ears it may just be the case. My boat filled with Karen Jonas songs
was rocked severely as a song wanted to come on board, claiming just
about all the space of over a decade of songs. Welcome!
Months
after the release of the band's latest album it is released again
already with extra tracks. I never got around to listen in the first
place, sorry, but here's a single to celebrate the re-release. Also, here's Dropkick Murphys without uilleann pipes and other Irish stuff itself. Cadillac
Cadillac is of course about the car and just as of course a classic 50s,
60s or 70s convertible of about a street or two long. Dropkick Murphys
leave at home any reference to their Irish roots, except for some pub
shouting along the way. This is a true rock and roll style song as could
be heard ever since the 1950s. Add some country twang guitar soloing,
strong bass runs and a tight rhythm and you have all you need in a song
like Cadillac Cadillac. The two singers want themselves one, no matter
how. I'm sure they will succeed.
Looking
it up I found that Temples was on the blog for the first and last time
with 'Sun Structures' in the spring of 2014. Has the band done anything
in between? Probably but never reached me. With Gamma Rays the band
returns on WoNoBlog with a danceable, slightly psychedelic song. The
kind that manoeuvres itself brilliantly between upbeat and melancholy.
The beat is decidedly upbeat, the singing has that impression of slowly
dragging its feet, while the keys and guitars are perfectly balanced in
the neutral area. It all results in a song that offers a lot to discover.
Yes, it could have been a Django Django song for the way the electronics
sound but is enough of its own. 'Exotico', 14 April, is the band's
fourth, I just read. On the basis of Gamma Rays it could be well worth
the wait.
It may
be that Marathon set a record for me. In the past I've seen many bands
without a record and many with one or more albums to their names. But a
band with one official single, 'Age'? That was a first. Here's the
second one, Mosquitoes & Flies. No country in the world like
Australia to experience the flies, were it not Marathon is from
Amsterdam. The band's second song is a huge alternative rocker
fulfilling all the ticks one has to place. Alternative sound? Check.
Notes somewhere between in tune and false? Check. Huge sound? Check? Singing between
singing and shouting? Check? Pumped up bass? Check. Distorted guitars?
Checks. It all would be useless ticks if the song wasn't good. The young
band presents a brazen song and throws it into the face of its
listeners. Effect? Maximum. Task? Passed. Song? Wildly good.
Let's end with a soft, introverted song by Hasselt, Belgium singer Caspar Auwerkerken. He sings like he has just lost his last dime but finds a whole orchestra to underscore his loss in a grand way. The Hunter is a song that slowly grows and grows to huge proportions, without ever not being a ballad. This is Auwerkerken's third single and he sounds as if he's The Beatles able to get anything they want into Abbey Road's studio 2 at any time they want. Let's face it, The Hunter deserves this treatment. It starts small and introverted. A piano, electric guitar, bass and drums all play soft, accompanying the sad Caspar. Already the song won me over totally and in come the strings. Not full force and all the time, no, slowly but surely the song grows and grows. This huge a sound already and only working towards a debut EP? And not before somewhere in summer? Man, what a wait. Caspar Auwerkerken is a huge discovery and talent.
Wout de Natris
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