Sunday 19 May 2024

2024 week 20, 10 singles

For the first time this year the houses heated up in a natural way over the past days. Still off and on but on average the temperatures are rising. Most likely we've had the warmest winter ever recorded over December and March but that is something else than it being warm. Against the oncoming summer, we present another ten singles of a very varied nature and originating in several countries. Enough to explore, so enjoy.

Desecrate The Cathedral. Pavid Vermin

A new name on the blog, Pavid Vermin. The single starts with a tremendously poppy sound. When the singer starts singing Sir Douglas Quintet comes to mind, while in the chorus its pure girl pop from the 60s and that's just the start of my associations. In Desecrate The Cathedral everything in 60s pop seems to come together. It's like listening to a discovered "nugget". The male voice is somewhere between Chuck Prophet and Geoff Palmer and is replaced by a female voice for the chorus, making the fun even bigger. The song is obviously good fun. Dumb title though. Now why would you want to do that for?

Problems. J Prozac

J Prosac returns to the blog with a great punk rock single. Taken from his upcoming album 'Obsession" (14 June) he is really going for it. Listening to a song like Problems I wonder how it is still possible to come up with such a strong song in this genre. It all sounds familiar and still it is totally unique, combining toughness with energy and a melody that is instantly unforgettable. There's no beating about the bush. Prosac arrives at the chorus before you know it. Behind the chorus is this great whoa whoa singing, one of the strongest features in any punkrock song. Throw in is an extremely short and strong guitar solo followed by fantastic tight ensemble playing. By then J Prosac has floored me, problems and all. This is a great single, period.

Left In The Sun. Local Drags

Local Drags have been on this blog for a few years now and returns with its first single of the upcoming album 'City In A Room' out since 17 May. It is a song that brings back memories from indie rock music of the 1980s. Bands like R.E.M. and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, to name two. Expect jangly guitars, melodies that are almost smooth pop, all support by a strong rhythm section. Left In The Sun brings exactly that. Lanny Durbin, who is Local Drags, has found that pop feel within himself once again, while sounding different from before. He is reinventing himself by the album, while always sounding interesting to listen to. Based on this song, it can't be the new album is not a very strong one.

Day Late Dollar Short. James Sullivan

The second album of James Sullivan of More Kicks. That band name rang a bell and indeed the band's single 'Animal' can be found on this blog in September 2022. Now Day Late Dollar Short is here. Sullivan is in alternative rocking mode. The rock disguises the pop feel the single has. Sullivan presents a fine pop song, with a strong melody that I want to hear again and again. Listening deeper into the song there are several nice melodies to discover. Sullivan knows how to write a good pop song and from their how to build it up into a rocking beast, making some noise along the way. The long outro attests to that. 'Vital Signs', the album, is already out for a month. High time to put attention to this single, as it very much worth getting to know.

Lost Highway. Diablogato

The title may bring some David Lynch associations with it. I wish I had a memory for movies like I have for music. I saw it but what it was about? I simply have no clue. Diablogato however rocks on this tune like there's no tomorrow. The intro maybe could have been in 'Twin Peaks' episode x, the rest is loud, loud rock. The Boston band sounds like a rock band from the 70s and comes extremely close to the real thing. The first band I think of is Deep Purple in the energy and the breaks in the music. The speed of 'Speed King' or 'Fireball' is what Diablogato goes for. The sound on Lost Highway is huge. The music comes out like a flood wave out of my speakers. If 'Lost Highway' was the movie with Nine Inch Nails in it, then this Lost Highway has a chance to making it into the director's cut.

The Wolf. The Peawees

Everything about The Peawees spells a nostalgic feeling for things past and pastiche. Just look how they present themselves in the video to The Wolf. The clothes were all found in a thrift shop after someone's parents decided to empty their clothing trunks with unworn clothes, while the music sounds just as dated. That would be all nice and good, had not The Wolf been such an urgent song. It rocks tightly has this nice stuttering riff. The Italian band does a lot of things right in its new song. And yes, it has this old fashioned organ sound in the background. Boston's Muck and the Mires could be good friends of The Peawees, except that the Italians rock a bit harder. Singer Hervè Peroncini has a great rough voice. The Peawees from La Spezia are around since 1995, so they are allowed to dress like its 1974? I can't help thinking of The Rubettes with the caps and all. The music has nothing to do with 'Sugar Baby Love' fortunately. This is no pastiche, but very much a real thing. Rock on!

Midas. Wunderhorse

Two years ago Wunderhorse had made it to this blog with single 'Butterflies'. With Midas Jacob Slater, who is Wunderhorse, sets a first step towards his new album. This song is an alternative rocker of some big proportions. It's chorus just sings "Midas" and some "la la la". It has to suffice. On the basis of the strong rock laid out underneath it, it does. In a minimum of time as well, just 2 minutes 17 seconds. In that few minutes Wunderhorse swirls through my room like a tornado. Who to compare the song with? Grunge?, sure. The Jam?, yes, I can go with that. The kind of song that should appeal to a wider rock loving audience. Midas has the energy, the power, the melody and the shine to do so. Let's see what happens next. Album 'Cub' did not convince me sufficiently to make it to a review. Midas may lead the next album towards one. This is a strong single.

Starbuster. Fontaines D.C.

A new Fontaines D.C. single is an event by now. The band has set steps beyond the post punk moniker as is developing in several directions it seems. The song starts with a beat rhythm, think an unsophisticated The Stone Roses. The result is a song that seems more a loop than a live band. Grian Chatten raps-sings through the verses. When the song progresses, it does get beyond rhythm-interesting. Strange noises are a part of the music, but the band comes in in several ways as well. The guitars, keyboards, they all come by. The song is far more interesting than I would have guessed from the listening to the first minute for the first time. To all appearances Fontaines D.C. has set another major step in its development towards being its own and not youngsters inspired by what happened well before their time. Something I never would have expected after listening to the first album, that is not on this blog. Starbuster is extremely intriguing, with a very weird video.

Looking At You. Garlands

Garlands has a subscription to this blog, as those following it will have noticed by now. Ever since Gordon Harrow sent me his second solo EP well before the pandemic, the relationship remained stable. For Looking At You things are no different. Expect a great rock pop song to come your way if you decide to play the song on You Tube, Bandcamp or Spotify while reading this post. Looking At You is Garlands at its most Supergrass. That is the best description. Just like the (former?) Britpoppers the trio manages to rock superbly while not forgetting the pop element that can make a rocking song so good. Over a tight rhythm of drums, bass and guitar, several overdubs of guitars come in and get off, setting off little sparks in the song. The same with the vocals. Be on the look out for all these little harmonies and background vocals. They make Looking At You an extremely rich Britpop song for the third decade of the 21st century. Actually, this song is one of Garlands' best songs to date.

Hurricane. Lionlimb

It's six years since Lionlimb debuted with its album 'Tape Recorder'. There was a later album that did not make. With Hurricane the band comes right back into my musical consciousness. Hurricane is everything but that. The drums is the only thing reminding me vaguely of strong winds and lashing, torrential rain. The rest of the song is deliciously dreamy. Stuart Bronaugh's soft voice takes precedence here but do not forget the female voice backing him up. Over the drum and underneath the voice is where things really become lovely and great to listen to. A lot of attention has gone into the details of this song. At first there's atmospherics, like a faint piano sound, all muffled and longheld notes, before that oh so nice bass comes in. And from there everything is possible and is. Lionlimb is in a great form on Hurricane, there's no other word for it.

Wout de Natris

No comments:

Post a Comment