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Walskoning. Ries de Vuyst
Een nieuw lied van
Ries de Vuyst opgenomen in een live setting, in de Rua Room. De
dansvereniging lijkt het onderwerp, goed geobserveerd door Riest, maar
het is de muzikant die de dansers begeleid, "avond aan avond met dezelfde
muziek". Hij ziet alles gebeuren, hij ziet de ambiance van het tl-licht,
waaronder de mensen rondzwieren, sjansen of juist eenzaam blijven. 's
Avonds ligt hij eenzaam in bed en kijkt naar de drie stipjes, die dansen
op zijn laptop. De Vuyst beziet het met mededogen en speelt prachtig
uitgewerkte muziek. Hij speelt zelf de akkoorden, in walstempo. Vincent
Chambon speelt de ene na de andere prachtige solo op zijn Spaanse
gitaar, in een mix van klassiek en zigeunerstijl. Gait Klein Kromhof
legt accenten met zijn harmonica en speelt een mooie solo. Wie meer over
Ries de Vuyst wil lezen op dit blog, moet zeker zeven jaar terug gaan,
behalve dat zijn cd 'Oondert' mijn lijst overzicht eind 2019 van de
beste 100 platen van het vorige decennium heeft gehaald.
Cloud
Cafe bestaat nog niet heel lang, maar heeft al een aantal interessante
optredens op zak en een platencontract. Dat resulteert in een eerste EP
die recentelijk is uitgebracht. Alhoewel de band zich, losjes, in het
folk idioom beweegt, is het duidelijk dat andere invloeden hun weg
eveneens hebben gevonden naar het songschrijfproces. Het distortion
effectdoosje is gitarist David Coehoorn niet vreemd, zal ik maar zeggen.
Het zorgt voor mooie contrasten, licht en donker, in de muziek van
Cloud Cafe. De contrasten doen duidelijk denken aan de bekendste band
van dit moment, Big Thief. Zelfs de stem en stemgebruik van Tara Wilts
doen mij aan Adrianne Lenker denken. De rockelementen zijn een mix van
grunge en The Beths uit Nieuw Zeeland. Het feit dat Cloud Cafe zich aan
deze namen mag spiegelen, geeft aan dat het met de vier songs op 'Cloud
Cafe' wel goed zit. De opening van de EP is meteen het rustigste nummer.
Het titelnummer zit in een vrij uniek rijtje, song-album-bandnaam
hetzelfde. Coehoorn ragt al aardig door het nummer heen, met een
donkere, vervormde solo. Het is een opmaat naar wat gaat komen, maar
altijd zit het kampvuurliedje nog onder het muzikale geweld verscholen.
Akoestisch kan Cloud Cafe zeker ook uit de voeten. 'Cloud Cafe' is een
interessant debuut dat veel meer belooft.
Sunrise,
Mt. Desolation cannot repeat the word enough it seems in its serious
and mood laden single, announcing its upcoming, third album 'Through
Crooked Aim'. Third album? I obviously missed two but also that its two
founding members are Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin. A part of
the music in Sunrise falls into place nicely with this knowledge in mind. That stately element
Keane's best songs contain, can be found her stripped from the more
commercial pop elements. Sunrise is sheer beauty, added to by the voice
of Jess Staveley-Taylor. She truly lifts the song to a higher level, as
impossible that may seem, with her voice. As elementary as this song
begins, one bass note and a few, slowly played piano notes, as huge it
ends. From the very outset I had the idea something special was about to
happen and it does. Mt. Desolation released a truly beautiful song.
Not
long to go to the release of Blondshell's album. In the meantime a new
single is released, a The Cranberries cover. Without the breathy way of singing
of Dolores O'Riordan a song can come totally alive for me. Of course
this is a matter of taste, as The Cranberries were rather huge in their
day. Blondshell totally owns the song it seems. Dynamics is a huge
element to Disappointment. Something the Irish band was good at, of
course. Blondshell makes it bigger and tougher, more American perhaps.
The result is a huge rock ballad, as the guitars are allowed to go for
the deep end with a wide, deep and spacious sound. Sabrina Teitelbaum
makes the most of the song, showcasing different qualities of her voice,
allowing her to sing high and low, convincing in both. It may be a
cover, it truly shows what she is capable of with her band. Again
Blondshell shows that the debut album may be quite interesting.
With
You Can Let Go Half Moon Run is both on familiar territory and
somewhere new. The, seemingly, electronic rhythm and atmosphere is
definitely new. The tremendous pop feel beyond the verses is old school.
The band ditches the dreamy atmosphere many of its songs of the
pre-pandemic era excelled in. You can still find it in the singer's voice. It's the
music that is more direct, with the vocal delivery matching the staccato
rhythm. The combination does work however. Half Moon Run is not capable
of writing a bad song. The Canadian band, so far, always caught me in
its snares, culminating in a perfect show in Amsterdam in November 2019,
"Perfection? Yes!". You Can Let Go has that same promise, a song that
creeps up on me and does not let go, contradicting the title, that will sound brilliantly live.
Too bad the band's doing a tour here when I'm not around.
It's
2023 and as far as I can recollect, this is the first song I hear by
The Damned. Punkrock as good as passed me by in 1976/77. Pink Floyd, David
Bowie and The Rolling Stones were the acts where I put my hard-saved
money in at the time. It simply did not match and punk never became
(semi-)mainstream here like it did in the U.K. Despite I bought The
Sexpistols' one album at the time and later, from 'London Calling'
onwards, The Clash's albums, I never got around to The Damned. So here's
Beware Of The Clown'. Looking at the start of the video, it's clear who
the clown is and the "vote sensible" spray paint is a nice touch. Dave
Vanian's voice is nice and deep, a little like Hugh Cornwell's. Captain
Sensible is the guitarist nowadays (okay, a bit longer already) and the
rest are not of the original The Damned. The song is nice and
ear-catching. The genre still punkrock with the tempo enough down to
move towards classic rock. This is a nice introduction, I have no other
word for it. Pleasantly surprised another two.
Pennies
by the Pound releases a new single announcing its forthcoming album
'Nothingside', 7 April. This single gives Elbow as it were a rock
bottom. Johannes Susitaival sings with a deeper voice over a song that
hovers between a ballad and progrock. Whispers Beneath The Willow
Tree has elements of both, with a lead guitar, played by Vesa Ranta,
that is exemplary for the genre. The song slowly but surely is fleshed
out with more and more layers of guitars added to the song, ending with a
huge sound. The hint towards Elbow disappears more and more into the
background the further Whispers Beneath The Willow Tree progresses.
Also, the more impressive the song becomes. Only a week to go before
'Nothingside' sees the light of day. Judging by its singles, it will be
worthwhile for rockfans to check the Fins' new album out.
A
pure pop gem by The Tearaways, a U.S. band signed by a U.K.
label, that recently released its first album, 'And Now For Our Next
Trick'. Only in a digital version. Anyone wanting to buy a copy has to
wait until late summer. Judging by Saturday Everyday there will be a lot
to enjoy, as pop oozes out of my little pc speakers right now. The kind
that involves a lot of guitars, harmonies and a rhythm section that
knows how to keep a good rock song moving ahead. Having Clem Burke behind the
drumkit certainly helps here. He has quite a lot of hits to his name, including number 1s. Singers John “Fin” Finseth, also bassist and Greg
Brallier, also rhythm guitarist, work really well together here. Lead
guitarist David Hekhouse plays all the little extra's on Saturday
Everyday. Don't expect huge solo's though. It's the vocal melody that
excels here. The lead guitar adds the nice accents and little melodies.
Men of a certain age aiming for pop perfection and getting really,
really close. Saturday Everyday is one of those nice surprises that come
by regularly on this blog, quite regularly thanks to Malibu Lou.
It's
five and half years ago I last wrote on Beach Fossils. First a live
show in Paradiso and because of that on 'Sommersault', is previous
album. You can also find 'Clash The Truth' on this blog in 2013.
Everything I have written before can be repeated here. Beach Fossils is a
band without any danger. It plays these kind, soft indie rock songs,
without any bite worth mentioning. Still, the band certainly makes for
pleasant listening and that is worthwhile as well. Live I had the
impression in 2017 the band wanted to be everywhere except on stage. It
was the last show of the tour. This may explain why it took so long to
come up with new work, and a pandemic most likely. With Don't Fade Away
fans will not hear a new Beach Fossils. What they will hear is a song
that may be as tough as this band gets. In its way urgent. That the single has
this touch of elegantly wasted beauty attached to it, is what they have
come to expect. A good introduction to 'Bunny', out in June.
Does Surf Friends do a The Dandy Warhols on its new single? Yes, it does and how! Woohoo woohoo and all. In a totally different song but familiar in sound nonetheless. "Surfing to survive, woohoohoo", this appears to be the message of this up tempo alternative rock song. A dark mood is all over the New Zealand band's new single. Darkish it may be, the energy is there in abundance. The lead guitar rages all through Woohoo, setting the song on fire, despite the sea water all around it. With album 'Sonic Waves' out for a few weeks already, this new single has made me curious, as I had forgotten all about the release. 'Bohemian Like You' may not be too far off in Woohoo, let the energy take you with it and make the world be a better place for it. Woohoo is rock and roll for this decade.
Wout de Natris
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