Lucky. Mood Bored
Lucky is the third
single by Mood Bored. "It shows another side" of the band according to
the bio and perhaps that is the reason it finds itself on this blog for
the first time. I don't know to be honest. Fact is Lucky is the kind of
dreamy song that allows me to file the single under the moniker
dreampop. There's more to it than that. The Wolf Alice link, Mood Bored
was a support act recently, is there as well. The band has a rock side
to it, but you find it mixed a little into the background. Live it will
be enough noise to make a difference is my guess. Myrte, Daan and Timo
met at the pop academy in Tilburg and are obviously serious to make
their band work. On the basis of Lucky, I should check out 'Easy Going'
and 'Pour Into Me' out soon. Interesting new band. It's hard to keep count in 2023.
More
dreamy music. This ballad has all the ingredients a ballad needs. It's slow,
of course, but from there Karamelien slowly builds out her song. With a
piano leading the way, strings and horns come in for the dramatic
effects that underscore her lead and backing vocals. In the first song
by the U.K. singer on this blog, 'Ascension Heights', she sampled a song
by her father with the same title. Top Topham, founding guitarist of
The Yardbirds, died this January (my condolences, Léanie). The text of
Wait For Me consoles everyone who has lost someone dear, and who has not
after reaching a certain age?, with the thought that you perhaps can
meet again. "I will never let you go", she also sings. Reincarnation or
heaven (hell) or not, this song is certainly true. The ones you love
live within you as long as you do. Wait For Me is sad and consoling at
the same time. On top of that, every note is its right place, making it a
beautiful single.
'Olympic
Ruin' was one of Erwin Zijleman's favourite records of 2019. It did not
get past my post. That's no reason not to give the New Zealand band another
chance. And lo and behold, the single seems to go down quite well.
There's that word again, dreamy. Not the bass though. The bass player
chugs though Dorothy Bay as if he's not playing in a soft dreamy song,
giving Dorothy Bay a totally different vibe, subduing even the drums
behind him. Like in the first song in this post by Dutch band Mood Bored, New
Zealand's Tiny Ruins have a loud lead guitar mixed into the background.
Even the solo is lurking there, giving the song a totally
different atmosphere, a little spooky even. It is the acoustic rhythm guitar
that is at the front, with the bass, as said. Over it all singer Hollie
Fullbrook sings with a dreamy voice, not straining herself in any way.
What went wrong with the previous album and me, I can't tell anymore.
Dorothy Bay makes me interested in what's to come for sure.
One
more single before 'Saturn Return' is released on 31 March. New Zealand
indie rockers Soft Plastics found the distortion pedals alright while recording
Darcie. The song has some great dynamics but it is the full out,
rhythmically great, moments that totally grab my attention. If the two
singles I've heard are anything to go at, Soft Plastics' debut album is
going to be an event. The Te Whanganui-a-Tara, better known globally as
Wellington, trio really blows itself up to grand proportions. After the
first two, wobbly seconds, a sound that returns elsewhere, the band goes
for it. It would have made a great opening statement on 'Saturn
Return'. It isn't though. Is the best is saved for later? or is 'My
World/Your Girl' even better? Only two weeks to go.
More
alternative rock, moving toward punk. Now from Dublin in Ireland. Half a
world away from Wellington. Although a more straightforward rock song,
the power and energy are certainly catchy here as well. Because the band
signed with City Slang, the single gets a re-release, complete with a
live version on the b-side and video filmed at Whelan's, one of the
Dublin venues an aspiring musician in Dublin must have played at to
become part of the music guild. The new attention to the song is totally
deserved. Literary Mind mixes early U2 with The Cult and its own
enthusiasm and writing skills. The fun of playing this song simply jumps
out of my speakers. "And I tell her", Karla Chubb sings. Let me
rephrase this a little. Let me tell everyone out there, this is one of
the most exciting singles I've heard for quite some time. Literary Mind,
Sprints, check it out!
Sweden's
Grande Royale rock like it's decades ago. As when Guns 'N' Roses was still a
fresh, new band and not a bunch of late 50, early 60 somethings touring
the world on the basis of hits from over 30 years ago. Stark Raving Mad
has that freshness that makes this song a joy to the ears. Not that this
is a band full with youngsters. No, Grande Royale's members have lived
some already. This does not stop them from rocking as if they're in
their early 20s. The whole song just bounces on the fun of playing and
the riffs and solos the tandem guitarists has come up with. The vocal
melody does the rest. Watch out for the album 'Welcome To Grime Town'
later this month.
Some
more alternative rock but so obviously from the U.S. The combination of
a poppy vocal melody with some tough playing is of the kind that comes
from our friends from the other side of the pond. Let's say since the
second half of the 70s. Starting with The Ramones, Blondie and The Knack,
in 2023 I certainly do not mind adding Local Drags. That kind of
pop-rock that does not need more than two minutes and a little to have
said it all. A golden riff that sprays itself like paint all over the
coachwork of Heard About It. If this song is anything, it is the much
better version of Gin Blossoms. A band that never fulfilled its promise
as far as I'm concerned or better simply did not stick as it wasn't that
good. This song is though. With two top singles what will 'Mess Of
Everything' bring? You can already order it, folks.
Some more rock music from the U.S. Bath County is more of the shoegazing sort. A huge wall of guitar noise leaves my speakers. The singer is audible but also somewhat distorted like everything else. Karly Hartzman is on top of things but only barely. The nearer Bath Country gets to its finale, the harder guitars, bass and drums go for it. She rightly stops singing there. There's no glory left to be gotten (as a singer). Wednesday does real well here as a whole. Sparks fly and set the world ablaze for a short while. Bath County is built up nicely as well. It starts out in a relatively friendly way, containing everything and everyone. But wait for that second half of the first chorus. There's not a single instrument that wants to go back into its cage. The gentle-music lovers do get a short respite but after that there's only room for the wicked. Exciting is a word I could use here. Would I manage to get through a whole album? I can't tell yet, but according to Pitchfork 'Rat Saw God', 7 April, is one of the important releases of this year. We'll see.
Time
to unwind and Alyosha provides this opportunity. Susanna Sundfør sings a
song to her new born daughter and sounds truly inspired. Exquisitely
arranged, Alyosha meanders like a brook through a forest. Drops of water
falling from a leaf into the brook become piano notes that adorn this
single in a beautiful way. In the lyrics Sundfør shows how her world
changed from the moment her daughter was born. All the troubles and
darkness surrounding every day's life seems to have disappeared in the
love for a new life. "It's you, it's you, it's you". Clearer the message
can not be. Susanne Sundfør has captured this feeling into a beautiful
ballad. The emotions are all in here. Simply beautiful.
We end this week with another ballad. Isbells is a Belgian band around Gaëtan Vandewoude that also holds (or held, I have no information) Chantal Acda, the Dutch-Belgian singer that has come buy in several incarnations on this blog. A Little Bit Longer is a ballad with small hints at Americana but not more than that. The way the piano sounds is totally in sync with the previous single, 'Alyosha'. VandeWoude slowly sings himself through the song, with enough effect on his voice to sound like singing from a well-tiled bathroom. "Almost ready for the night", he sings but only after a very pleasant evening it seems, so I hope, as it sounds totally satisfied in many ways. Totally at ease with each other and the world. The band has caught this satisfaction in music in a totally convincing way. Again, simply beautiful.
Wout de Natris
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