Padded Cell. LYSOL
From just looking
at the cover art of album 'Down The Street', one can have more than an
inkling of what to expect where the music is concerned. Padded Cell is a
song that is over almost before I have been able to type in the title.
One minute seven seconds with more chord changes than I can count. When
power chords become riffs everything is possible. Chaos and strength
in one I opt for. LYSOL is a punk band from Seattle. Anthony Gaviria,
Xtine Lundberg, Chad Ringo Bucklew, and Noah Earl Fowler are its
members. Together they take on a song by storm. There's no restraint, no
holding back, all energy, with not a second wasted on time. This is all
the band needs to get its message across and that is what the listener
gets. A musical storm of, however small in time, epic proportions.
Padded Cell is the ideal advert for LYSOL's intentions.
Last
year 'Aces Eights And Heartaches', The Shang-Hi Los, latest album, made
it to the number two position of my favourite albums of 2023. Here is the first new
song by the band since then. Once again that pop feel the Boston band is able to give its
rock songs is present, so so sugar sweet. The solid rock at the heart of Op-Operator, is embellished by great harmonies that go all through the song.
The title is simply almost everywhere. I won't go as far as compare it to The Beach Boys but the influence is undeniable.
The handclaps are the second element providing pop. The synth playing
that little melody is a third. Boston rock comes through in the link to
The Cars' new wave/pop phase of the late 70s, also present in the synth. The Shang-Hi
Los in Op-Operator do it again. Adding quality to things that are there
already for decades in a genre where all seemed said and done. No, it
is not and this band proves the point with flair.
San
Francisco's Brume debuted on this blog several weeks ago and returns
with another single from its upcoming album 'Marten' (3 May). New Sadder
You is a slow song where singer (and bassist) Suzie McMullen takes the
centre totally and rises almost to like of Europe's biggest goth rock
singers like Floor Jansen and Sharon den Adel, outshining Jamie
McCathie's vocal part totally. She wrote the song for band member
McCathie, after his father died. Her description of the song is so good
I'm going to put it in here almost instead of a review: "I wrote this
song for Jamie after his father passed away. When someone you love dies,
you mourn the loss of that loved one, you mourn the loss of the old
happier, lighter version of you, but that new sadder you only exists,
because you were lucky enough to have someone unconditionally love you!" What could I possibly add here?
The music underscores the turmoil of emotions that occur when someone
you love dies. A huge sound underscores the anger, the not
understanding, the softer parts the silent sadness and feelings of loss.
The cello of Jackie Perez Gratz shines no little here. Perhaps this represents the laughter that comes with remembering the good times together in between the tears. New Sadder Song
is a big song in a few ways.
Where
will this go?, I wondered listening to the start of the video (and
single?). A recorded message like one could hear in a closed sect of the brainwashing kind.
Gunmoll may have that effect on listeners though. The band starts
rocking no little. A very tight rhythm and melody riff make up the verses.
Over it Jolien Grunberg sings with a girl-like voice almost breaking
from enthusiasm. At the end of each sentence her voice shoots up. Almost
irritatingly so, were it not for that enthusiasm. The choruses are
bouncing out of my speakers. There's no stopping Gunmoll. Co-guitarist
Bram Bol and Grunberg are the nucleus of this new band. Don't think that
they put their guitars up front. If anything it is Pim de Roij (drums)
and Koen van Bemmelen (bas) that drive this song, assisted by the
guitars. The style is alternative rock but with a strong surf rock
element in the riffing. Just listen to those strong melodic runs on the guitars.
Rhythm? Think 'Peter Gunn' in ELP's version. This tastes like more for
certain. Tata's Lie? The concern's lies on pollution and toxic waste through the years?
Tekami
starts extremely jazzy. In fact, it starts a bit chaotic. As
if Mei Semones wanted to throw in all elements she could think of into Tekami. Then, as if against all odds,
slowly but surely a Brazilian element creeps in, turning the song into a
bossa nova. Of a kind the Brazilian heroes at Ipanima from the 1960s could never have
contemplated. The singer of Japanese decent, living in Brooklyn, mixes
several influences into Tekami, which means letter in Japanese. The song
is a return to the love letters her partner writes to her, which she
does not answer in the traditional way. The world is the richer for it.
Tekami starts with a run on the guitar, showing to the world how well
Semones can play jazz guitar. From there the bossa nova comes in but the
times keeps changing, so don't expect to dance a bossa nova in a
straight form should you want to. Where somewhere deep down Tekami is a
relaxing song, the way Mei Semones recorded it, it has become a song
that keeps the listener on his toes for the whole of the song. The next curve
in in Tekami is always around the next corner that can come any time.
'Kabutomushi', is out since April 5th.
Lunar
Seal is an instrumental track from the album '48 Moons'. Most likely it
brings together all The Magogas stands for. Rocking and hitting hard,
focusing on musical themes that are explored and turned into rock songs
with elements from grunge, psych, stoner-desert rock. Drummer Lisa
Cappellazzo, guitarist Jacopo Nava, and bassist Fabio Cester founded the
band in 2020 and worked towards the release of its first album ever
since. 48 Moons to be exact. The album is there and if Lunar Seal is anything to go by, it
will be a storm of an album. Cappellazzo is a hard hitter and knows how
to fill the spectrum of the song with her energised drumming. Meg White
to the max. The fuzz and distortion peddles are no stranger to the rest
of band and especially the guitar has to be contained to make sure it's
not feedbacking the whole of the time. Lunar Seal is brought to great
heights. Soaring as it were over plains and mountain ranges. Yes, like a
big eagle.
More
music from Italy with the first single of The Gluts' upcoming album
'Bang!', out on 31 May. Expect more noise, rock and psychedelics, as
this record is released on the Fuzz Tone label. The Gluts is made up of
Marco Campana (guitarist), Nicolò J. Campana (frontman), Claudia Cesana
(bassist) and Dario Bruno Bassi (drummer). Bang! will be the band's
fifth album, but it makes its debut on this blog. Cade Giù (falls down)
is an energised rock song, all balled into two minutes exactly. Singer
Campana is shouting out his lyrics, that probably are in Italian. He
clearly has some anger and frustration to vent. The band lays down a
great punk rock track, with very short psychedelic interludes here and
there. Effects are applied to the guitars in sorts and forms making for
little nice overdubs in the music. The Gluts clearly rock from whatever
angle they chose to pick, even within this two minute short song.
Austin,
Tx band Good Looks makes its debut on this blog with a great indie rock
song from its upcoming album 'Lived Here For A While',
out June 7th. On its previous album 'Bummer Year' Good Looks could be
found in the americana segment of music. If If It's Gone is anything to
go by, it no longer is. The single is a long drawn out song, not unlike
The War on Drugs. A hypnotic rhythm is adorned with interesting lead
lines and notes making If It's Gone an addictive song to listen to. That
rhythm just goes on and on, while the things played and sung over it
gives it its quality. The main solo brings to mind several bands in this
genre but is all the song calls for. Good Looks is a band that
perseveres. On the evening it premiered its previous album, lead
guitarist Jake Ames was hit by a car when crossing the street and barely
lived to tell, cancelling all that followed for the band. He recovered
but when the band could tour once again the band van containing
everything the band had invested in burned out in an accident. That
would be more enough signs to call it quits for most individuals. Not for Good Looks and
the world is the better for it. This is a very good single, with
hopefully more to come soon.
Eindhoven's
The Mono Kids are by now veterans of WoNoBlog. Through the past few
years its releases have found their way into the weekly singles post. EP
Drei Wunderschöne Melodien is no exception. The punk rock songs are no
less than infectious. In fact, the three songs on the EP may be the best
I've heard so far by The Mono Kids. From the first second its like I've been told to lie
down in the middle of the road and all I have to do is wait for the
steamroller to drive over me and pound me into the tarmac. Ask me, and I
will tell you that the first song 'The Sun = #1' is the best. Over a
pounding drums, the guitar can really go at it and does. The chorus is
one to shout along to at the top of the voice. Later in the song there
are even oohs and aahs and hand claps. The kind that make a song stand
out fast. What caught me most though is the extreme urgency of the song.
This band is in a hurry and has a message to share with the world.
'Rock It' and 'PS/P-Love' are not that good, but listen how 'Rock It'
starts "Here we Gooooo"! This message tells all. The Mono Kids are on a
roll on Drei Wunderschöne Melodien. Fans of James Last will definitely
object, in huge shock. If that was the intention of The Mono Kids, all I
can add is: mission accomplished. In abundance.
Iris Brown from Oakland, California named herself after her great-great grandmother Omega King, the first black opera singer in Chicago. King Isis is musically far removed from opera, but a stage is a stage and King Isis will find her way to stages based on the indie rock R&B songs on Shed. King Isis is gender fluid and in a way so is her music. The music can go off in any direction. Opening song 'Poison' is a rock oriented song. Next, 'Make It Up' changes, confusing me a little to be honest, but winds up at indie rock any way. In the third song '333' R&B takes over, but that electric guitar remains in place. 'Monki' is a hybrid sing, again, mixing rock with a slow dance rhythm. The music seems looped, put through a phaser here and there, creating a psychedelic mood in the big chorus. On her latest EP King Isis shows several sides of her musical persona. For some it may be too much. Not for me. The hybrid music form makes even those song that usually are outside of my comfort zone quite palatable. Shed ends with 'NVR RLL', again more rock than R&B but it contains both in a rock zone. In theory it reminds of G. Love and Special Sauce from 30 years ago. In theory, as I never really liked that mix. King Isis has delivered a good EP that mixes genres in a successful way, very much worthwhile exploring.
Wout de Natris
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