2023. Week 22, 10 singles

With the meteorological summer having started and the summer solstice within sight, one I'll be celebrating in Finland of all places, 2023 is moving along quite nicely. Musically speaking there's not a lot to complain about. Neither is there personally but around me things are less rosy sometimes. "We" are getting slowly older and it's starting to show. So, best escape into some nice music released in the past weeks. Enjoy!

Cold Tiles Bad, Warm Breeze Good. Stoop Kid

A weird title for a fairly common sounding indie song. Jens Rubens, he is Stoop Kid, writing from a modern perspective, "sitting on my bathroom floor, staring at my phone", he sings, something that was a fairly useless activity not that long ago. Although it is debatable if it is a worthwhile activity today. The single announcing Stoop Kid's album 'Mount Cope' is as direct as it is mood laden. The drums, playing an interesting rhythm as you will find, and at least a part of the guitars keep the song very much grounded. The synths and the other half of the guitars are sort of floating free but kept from escaping by the former. Rubens' singing is somewhere in between the two, providing the cement. Fans of bands like Beach Fossils, indie with a very light touch of psychedelia, will find their way into Cold Tiles Bad, Warm Breeze Good. It's a nice song without excelling or surprising.

The Everlasting Gobstopper. The Veldt

Friday we had an album from 1987, only to be released in 2023, by Matweeds, today we have The Everlasting Gobstopper by The Veldt. Recorded in 1989 but shelved by the record company. Come 2023 the album, produced by Robin Guthrie, ex-Cocteau Twins, may see the light of day. For now there is a 12" single with this song as the a-side. Expect a nice piece of shoegazing. Singer Daniel Chavis sings as was in vogue in the 1980s, softly sung, long-held notes, while he and his twin brother Danny play their guitars supporting the singing fully. What strikes me, is that this song is 34 years old but could have been made today. It, well, almost, does not sound outdated. For that the pop element in The Everlasting Gobstopper, great title by the way, is too much present. In that sense it is not 1989 at all. I had never heard of The Veldt before but would not mind hearing more in the future.

Something Good. Carissa Johnson and the Cure-Alls

Carissa Johnson returns to the singles section of WoNoBlog, now with The Cure Alls in tow. Rum Bar is releasing a deluxe edition of her album 'Blue Hour'. She brings the world a tough rocking song called Something Good. A song of the kind that invites, in theory, to make large venues singalong at the top its voice. When did women start to rock this hard? For me the introduction was 'I Love Rock And Roll' by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. Today it is what I'd call normal. At the time it wasn't. Something Good is driven by a huge drums, pounding away on a dry snare, not unlike the sound introduced by Therapy?'s drummer in the earlier 90s. Over it the melody can play itself out. Carissa Johnson and band do not hold back here. A little Weezer is in there but mostly she's able to show herself and gives the song her all and that comes across. Great rocking single Something Good is.

Happy Ending. The Mono Kids

Everybody loves a happy ending. Undoubtedly many others than Joe Jackson will have sung or written something like it. Not with The Mono Kids. Here things are ambivalent, as it is "A happy ending without a smile". The song sounds like it as well. When writing on The Mono Kids from Eindhoven for the first time, earlier this year, I wrote along the lines of "a total energy discharge" and "excitement is for all ages". I could leave it there as Happy Ending fully compares here. The duo Roelof and Michel go at it with their guitar and drums with little space for true subtleties. The overdubs on guitar do add some single notes but all to underscore that energy. The Mono Kids advertise its DYI approach and that is what this song sounds like. It is all compensated by that energy. "Personal Trainer on steroids", I ended with, reviewing 'The Mono Kids EP'. Guess what? The description fits happy Ending as well.

Ochtendvier. broeder Dieleman

broeder Dieleman brengt zijn nieuwe album uit op 18 Augustus, 'Oh Mijn Ziel' genaamd. De eerste single van het album is uit en heel anders dan ooit hiervoor. De tekst is van Peter Slager en een hertaling van het nummer 'Morning Fire' van de Amerikaans-Zeeuwse artiest Baby Dee. Voor mij een geheel onbekende naam, maar iemand die vele platen op haar naam heeft staan en heeft gewerkt met artiesten als Anthony Hegarty, of Anohni en met Will Oldham and Matt Sweeney. Dee en Dieleman zingen op Ochtendvier, in hun eigen taal, Zeeuws en Engels. Dat is niet nieuw, want, het ook Zeeuwse, Blöf heeft dat gedaan met Counting Crows, maar het maakt toch lastig luisteren, mede omdat mijn oren moeite hebben te geloven wat zij horen. De muziek is terug gebracht naar zijn naakte essentie. Een getokkelde gitaar en een accordeon, dat is genoeg om de sfeer neer te zetten. Wie dit nummer voor het eerst hoort, en dan zeker de stem van Baby Dee zal verbaasd zijn. Totdat je de, uitgebreide, Wikipedia pagina leest, waar echter niets over Zeeland in staat, waar Baby Dee al tien jaar woont met haar geliefde. Ochtendvier is een sober, doch mooi lied.

Cross the Line (Oh Andrea). The Family Township

Another Boston band signed to the Red On Red label. The first single by the band that is around since 2006 there is a nice rocking song that to me brings fond memories of the band with the name of the band's city of origin. The song has that same classic rock sound and high, almost whining guitar sound Tom Schulz was so good at. Alejandro Necochea knows where Tom found the mustard alright. There's some 80s synth coming forward and that sums up the influences of The Family Township quite nicely. The song tells the story of how singer-guitarist Mark Pinansky and his wife Andrea fell in love and so figuratively crossed that line. Yes, Cross The line (Oh Andrea) does sound a little overly familiar, I'll give you that. At the same time this is just so nicely done and that is what counts here.

Every Fucking Time. Claud

What am I listening to? 'Wonderwall'? That acoustic guitar intro is sounding so overly familiar. From there on things turn in a different direction, were it not that deep down there is this feel that I can't seem to shake off. Claud is a duo, in the video at least, and if not a duo, a "their", which shows from the video as well. The song remains a sad, melancholic ballad. It's clear Claud is not in a happy mood. "I just can't believe it, when you say you love me", can be describing amazement but also disbelieving. "I believe it every fucking time". That adds some self-disliking as well. As a song it works though. It's a song I do want to hear again and perhaps even more when album 'Supermodels' is released in July. As a warning, do not mistake Claud for Claude, who is making it big over here it seems. Claud's music is, at least this single, subdued indie-pop-rock.

How Can I (Resist You)? The Chelsea Curve

The Chelsea Curve returns to the blog with a glorious single, that is as Britpop as Britpop comes while it could have been a Blondie single from the time of 'Maria' as well. How Can I (Resist You)? is as infectious as the title suggests. The tight rhythm of guitar-bass-drums in the verses drives the song forward, with the guitar jumping out of the whole regularly adding melody to Linda Pardee's vocal melody. She brings out her best Debbie Harry's vocal but is the better singer, obviously and manages to add a little Chrissie Hynde in there as well. Together with guitarist/vocalist Tim Gillis and drummer Ron Belanger she forms a band that not only recreates a musical feel from the past but also pulls it into 2023 with ease. This band finds obvious joy in the music it plays and is able to share that joy with all who care to listen. Another band that deserves to bust out of Boston big time.

I Don't Wanna Lose You / Skinny Dipping. Lizzy

There are a lot of singles being released, so many that I even missed a single by Lizzy, the Belgian singer who more or less runs a subscription on this blog. She is working towards the release of her first EP and releases the songs digitally one by one. I Don't Wanna Lose You is the most recent one. Again Lizzy shows a different side of herself. On the one hand I Don't Wanna Lose You is a melancholy ballad, on the other a singer-songwriter song that is more than just a woman with guitar song. A lot more. It may even be Lizzy's most elaborately arranged single so far. There is a lot of synths and atmospheric sounds worked in.

So, time to make amends. Skinny Dipping is another song. Lizzy plays a keyboard but it is as if it's broken as there are weird sounds coming out of the played keys. It makes for original listening. After a while the drums come in, turning the song into a dance influenced tune, with some hip hop elements in the way of singing. So, again something very different. Lizzy keeps experimenting with her sound and styles. The pop feel in the song convinces and makes me want to listen again. To think Skinny Dipping almost got away from being on this blog. Luckily, it was prevented from doing so.

I Need A Witness. The Hi End

The Hi End comes with a new single in the best rock and roll 1970s style. Keith Richard - Mick Taylor style The Rolling Stones copied successfully by The Faces and The Black Crowes, that is what I Need A Witness offers and in a great way. Expect a tough rocking band that plays all the familiar hooks and riffs in a slightly different way but still having me think, 'which song is this again'? What more is there to say? Nothing, this tells all. Except, that I Need A Witness but whoever ever heard of a band called Cocksparrer? Not me, sorry.

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