Thursday 7 March 2024

2024. Week 10, 10 singles

Had I had a blog a long time ago, the singles section would contain mostly, now, very famous songs. Today only songs are presented that I will not once hear on the radio, exceptions permitted. One reason is that I am not alerted to new singles from famous bands. I am alerted to a whole host of bands that make music on the side of the band members' lives or young aspiring artists still dreaming of a long and successful career. This makes this selection all the more interesting of course. There's truly new music to discover and like. So, feel invited to open your ears and explore.

Mindcave. Dreamwave

Here we go, with a fierce uptempo psychedelic outing called Mindcave. Inspired by a scene with a cave and a spider in 'The Lord of the Rings', I can imagine Mindcave being the imaginary soundtrack to Frodo Baggins' escape from the cave. Dreamwave really gets things cracking, referencing 1960s psych rock as well as a more modern band like The Black Angels in its rocking mode. The U.K. band knows what it likes and loves to share it with its audience. Not without a whole lot of enthusiasm thrown into the mix and the ability play. The sound of Mindcave is totally muddy, thanks to the psychedelics in there and the effects that come with it. What I wind up with thinking is that this single with right could have been called Mindrave as well. This song is serious and fun time in one.

A Cure for My Feels. Simpleton

Nervousness and tight pop is what describes A Cure For My Feels while listening to the song for the first time. In fact, I am almost convinced half way that I'm listening to a great alternative rock song. By the time the solo starts I'm sold. Simpleton is the moniker under which Chris Berendsen works. If ever a band name was chosen wrongly! This song has the energy an alternative rocksong needs, the arrangement is clever, the melody simply golden. A quick search told me that this is Simpleton's second single on this blog. At the start of the last summer his single 'Light The Fuse' made it to these pages and received a warm welcome. That makes two out of two. It seems like it's justified to call Simpleton a talent. In June 2023 an EP was announced already. We had to be patient. We are still tested, as 'The Simpleton Show: Pt 1' is only released on 19 April.

Sidelines. The Day

Dutch - German duo The Day is described as playing dreampop. I beg to differ for at least 50%. Although the duo surely has that dreamy quality in it, the music is far too tough in two ways. The first is that 80s synthpop vibe meandering around Sidelines. Secondly, Sidelines rocks. Just listen how that The Cure bass sound opens the single and the tough drums playing behind it. When the electric guitars come in the dream is exchanged for wide-awake-pop in my opinion. In fact, if the duo is able to play live with a band, this song will get people dancing alright. In my opinion there's no way people will stand still the moment the guitar comes in. The most dreamy quality of The Day is in the voice of singer Laura Loeters. The duo is about to release its second album, 'The Kids Are Alright' on 10 May. Sidelines in the meantime is a very pleasant introduction to The Day as far as I'm concerned.

Glass Bowl Dance. Boskat

Four weeks before Simpleton, see above, Boskat made its debut on this blog with single 'Stick To Your Guns'. On the 15th the Belgian duo releases its first album 'Welcome to Planet Urmit'. Drummer Tibo Polleunis and guitarist Vincent Van Santfoort play a lot more than they can ever reproduce on stage as a duo. Glass Bowl Dance is a song in the style of Nirvana, as in the light and the shade are present in abundance in this song. It really rocks and has a great melody. I think singer Vincent would have loved to have that little extra edge to his voice, which he hasn't. I doesn't matter, as his voice convinces in the harder sequences of Glass Bowl Dance, that musically is somewhere between Nirvana and Pearl Jam. That is actually a great spot to be in and certainly when your song has the quality this single has. Add that Van Santfoort can play a great guitar solo as well and you know enough. Grunge fans old and new, check out Boskat soon.

By A Threat. Jade Dust

More punkrock from Portland, Oregon. By now I know that there's a whole scene of punk bands of which I would never have heard were it not that someone started sending me links to new singles and albums. Jade Dust is another band in that basket. Formed in the year before the lockdown, Jade Dust released a first EP in 2021 and now is ready for its first full length album called 'Grey Skies', out for a week. By A Threat is a song that does not contain more than strictly necessary. 1 minute 57 seconds and Jade Dust has said it all and this includes a spacey, not strictly necessary ending. Don't expect any subtlety. This band goes for it in a direct way. The chorus opens the song and invites everyone to yell along immediately. What follows is a storm cooked up by drums, bass and two guitars. Singer Rudi Jung spits out his lyrics. Yes, I call it singing, as there is clearly a melody, but it's more attitude than singing I think. As a whole By A Threat stands like a house as we say over here. Time to singalong, folks: "By a, by a threat".

Suitcase. WiMP!

More punkrock and this time from Rockford, Illinois. Unfortunately it is impossible to keep up with everything released. 'Black Sheep', WiMP!'s album, is already out for a month and passed me by, I have to admit. Enter single Suitcase that was still hidden in this list of recently released singles. I was playing it only for a few seconds and it jumped at me as if the black sheep stood in for the killer rabbit in 'The Holy Grail'. Just listen how the band kicks this song off. All the energy and the fun of playing together is unleashed on this unsuspecting listener. Singer and bassist Cheyenne Dean sings like the best of them 40some years ago. Suitcase is the kind of song that combines loud punkrock with a great and urgent melody. A person is sent off here without any doubts left. The "narcissistic fuck" is told to pack his suitcase. At the same time WiMP! packed this message in a golden song, while managing to present the sound totally clear. 'Black Sheep', was it? Time to listen anyway.

A Series Of Chemicals. The Magic City

Very good observers will recall The Magic City was on the blog in the fall of last year with a single reminding me of Bowie and U.K. music from the 70s and 90s. Not so the band's latest, A Series Of Chemicals. This song is U.S. the whole of the way. While listening, a song that was only a minor hit here in the 1980s but still comes by regularly on the radio, was the first song I thought of, 'Your Love' by The Outfield. One of these one hit wonders. The Magic City presents a mix of pure pop and power pop, the music that goes for the heart and the mind. But when all is said and done, I certainly hear a little The Kinks from around 1980, when they released albums aimed at the U.S. market, having been all but forgotten in Europe. Summing up A Series Of Chemicals is a completely honest song, the kind more should be made of in 2024.

Bull Of A Man. Shaggahs

A long lost album resurfaces and where else then on Rum Bar Records from Boston. 'Extra Stout' originally saw the light of day in 1993, when I certainly did not hear it. On the basis of the single Bull Of A Man it certainly will be worthwhile to listen to Shaggahs, and yes, it means what you are thinking right now. What I did not know that the word shagg is Celtic (if true of course). In 1993 the band was already looking into the rearview mirror where the music it played was concerned. Singer Lennie Donohoe has a bit of Lou Reed in his phrasing, not Reed's depth. This makes his voice in an more uptempo song like Bull Of A Man more pleasant to listen to. The music was influenced by the alternative rock of the 1960s and 70s as well. The postpunk music in the U.S. is the last element and you will understand what Bull Of A Man sounds like. Pretty cool that this song was saved from obscurity. It deserves to be.

Rock-n-Roll Is My Business / Son of a Gun. Dmitry Wild

Wild finds himself on the blog for the third time. On this single's A-side he takes a deep dive into rock and roll's history. The tempo is that stuttering going on in Screaming Jay Hawkins' 'I Put A Spell On You'. It includes a saxophone as well. The sound is totally modern though. There's no comparison in that sense. The atmosphere is the same. It sounds as if the devil is sharing that rock and roll is his business, and it was of course according to a host of parents and clergymen in the 1950s. In 2024 people may not like rock and roll, the devil is out of sight for decades already. Whole generations can enjoy Dmitry Wild's single, that totally goes out of control at the end. The rock and the roll are fully unleashed and the party starts. B-side Son Of A Gun is just as strong. It reminds me of that great single 'Dracula' by ZZ and the Maskers from the mid-60s. Until, again, a modern sounds defies all comparison with old recordings. Wild on this duo single is wallowing in nostalgia, while not forgetting that he's an artist in the 2020s. The combination truly works. Rock and roll for this decade this single is.

Gen Z. Soft Boy

Thanks to the last band, from Belgium, the mood finally goes down again. Combo Soft Boy takes its time to present a single from its upcoming album 'Almost Hungry' (15 March). Gen Z is the most lonely generation, so I learned from today's newspaper, thanks to being continuously online on the not-so-social media. Soft Boy obviously wraps a warm arm around the shoulders of all these lonely, emotionally depraved youngsters. The tempo is slow. Automatically a listener is invited to listen, as in truly listen and relax. To the slow soft but present drums, the slow played notes on guitar and bass and the warm keys, oops violin seeing the video, coming in here and there. Singer Xander Hamelton takes the listeners all through the modern age, assisted by some magical backing vocals. Gen Z is a great pop single that puts Soft Boy firmly on the map. I am left with only one question: What can possibly come after Gen Z? (The generation not the song.)

Wout de Natris

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