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Hey, Sharon. The Wynotts
A
review of The Wynotts? Why not. Hey Sharon, rocks in all the good ways.
A strong melody, aahhs to sing along to, a short pointy guitar solo,
nice female background vocals and a great rhythm section, with a drummer
threatening to hit his kit into two. Except, this isn't new music at
all. The Wynotts were a band from 2007 to 2009. On the basis of their
recorded but not released music, the erstwhile members rebanded and
decided to release their music anyway. With members of bands like
Jerry's Kids, Underball, The Downhauls, and The Killer Abs, only The
Downhauls can be found on this blog, The Wynotts obviously know how to
rock hard. Hey, Sharon is that kind of track. Simply made to set every
stage on fire and put the love of rock in anyone's heart.
Just
over a year since 'Ideal Home Noises', an album I still play regularly,
New Zealand's Vera Ellen is back already with an EP. The outset is
different though. She has recorded everything by herself in her
"bedroom". The EP is as bare as you would expect it to be. Lo-fi however
doesn't exist any more, Anyone with a bit of talent can make a great
sounding album in his/her/their living room. So did Vera Ellen. She is
playing her acoustic guitar and sings. From there she has added other
instruments and voices. Her "Vera Ellen voice" is not there for the
whole of the time. She has several voices and experiments with her
voice. Some are more successful than others, granted. On average though Vera
Ellen shows her considerable talent in songwriting. Even at her most
bare, the songs speak volumes. For me it all proves that Vera Ellen is
an artist that should gain more success soon. Maybe not on the basis of
this home recording, that may be a bit too intense for the average
listener, but certainly on the basis of 'Ideal Home Noises'. Those with a
good ear though will hear the beauty in Heartbreak For Jetlag. Anyone
not captured by 'Danger', featuring Oli Devlin, should get their ears
seriously cleaned. Vera Ellen may initially not have intended to open this music
up for the world, it would have been a crime not to do so. Heartbreak For Jetlag is an important piece of work for all the world to enjoy.
Mdou
Moctar is a Nigerian band. I am nearly certain that will be a first on
this blog. The song is a blend of western rock and traditional music. Oh
France is rocking hard. The way it does rock is totally different from
what I would normally be hearing. This band is truly standing with each
foot in different ground. One in the arid sand of the Sahel, the other
in western clay. The result is a hybrid killer of a song. The lyrics are
about the relationship with France. It's sung in a local language. The
translation on You Tube does not leave room for a lot of subtleties. The
anger comes out in the music as well. Mdou Moctar cooks up a storm of
notes in a way that in the West is unknown. Not the fiery way of
playing. Oh France is cooking.
With
that great debut album 'Letter To Self' only on the market for five
months and a relentless tour schedule in the recent past and ahead it
will be a while before the world will be able to welcome a new album by
Irish band SPRINTS. To kill the time in between the band released two
songs recorded during the 'Black Box Sessions'. Every band that has
released a killer debut, has a giant task to come up with a better one
later. There are two options. The 1960s way and the "Coldplay" version.
Something tells me SPRINTS can better follow The Beatles and The Stones.
Hone the skills and improve fast by writing, recording and playing, all
at the almost same time. On these live performances SPRINTS shows how
it is honing its chops. Both songs of this session are not on the album
and show an even wilder side of the band. SPRINTS plays with the brakes
off and the effect pedals deeply on. The result is two raw gems that
show the band at its rawest. Yes, I'm a fan.
Wrestling
is something so far removed from my and all my friends' consciousness
that I was totally amazed that my U.S. origin friends said that they
were going to a wrestling event nearby. Why I'm writing this? Because
wrestling is the theme So Desperate. Providence, Rhode Island's Salem
Wolves will even release a whole album on wrestling later this year.
Single So Desperate is driven by a strong drums. Over it the guitars can
start playing like lying in a just right bed. Musically, the first band
that comes to mind is Bon Jovi from the 80s. That is not the whole
story though. For that So Desperate is not commercial enough. Salem
Wolves is far tougher. Singer Gray Bouchard has The Decemberists' Colin
Meloy's phrasing while being a friendly rock singer. I'm glad I gave So
Desperate a second chance, as I notice that I like the song better with
each spin. And that solo is simply heavenly.
Writing
single posts is time consuming but also fulfilling. I get exposed to so
much music that I otherwise would have missed. The downside for the
artists is that many a song comes in the one ear and leaves the other. The
name Louisa Nicklin did not ring any kind of bell but she was on this
blog before in 2021 with a single called 'To Be Fine'. I never got
around to the album it seems. Reading the review of 'To Be Fine', I
notice that I could use a lot of it. The vibrato voice, the bare music
with a very prominent drums and bass, the weird sounds. All check. Thick
is Nicklin's first single towards her new album 'The Big Sulk', out on
23 August. Thick is an energetic song with a clear darkness over it. A
song like there are not many others around and that has mostly to do
with her unique (use of her) voice. In Louisa Nicklin New Zealand has a
very unique singer, once again.
My
intro to the previous single is proven when checking up on A Shoreline
Dream on the blog. I wrote on the same single twice, in one day! LOL.
Not so with Everything Turns. Featuring Ride's Mark Gardener, A Shoreline
Dream returns to the blog with a mysterious single, as if capturing
Tears for Fears during a daydream. Music and singing both seem to float
on a river of a soft and warm oily substance carrying them slowly but
surely to the end of the song in a way as if there's no end in sight nor
needed. Of course, there is a difference between the instruments and the
voices but only if I pay close attention. The somewhat hypnotic music
easily does away with nuances. If anything its the drums that draw
attention. It's almost tribal the way they are played and the most
prominent instrument because of the hypnotic synths. Thank you, Shauna,
for bringing attention to the song, as I definitely missed the uniqueness of
Everything Turns the first time around.
From hypnotic to jazzy music is not a huge step I notice. Chris Cohen is a new name to me but he is on this blog under Rozi Plain's review by Erwin Zijleman. Damage is a jazzy, dreamy song. In music and singing. Chris Cohen is not in a hurry, that much is clear. He has an extremely pleasant voice to listen to. The 70s West Coast singer-songwriters come to mind but Damage is a far easier song to listen to. At the same time there is an exquisite horn arrangement. Jeff Parker wrote the arrangement and Josh Johnson played several of the instruments. In a month Cohen is to release his fourth album, 'Paint A Room'. If it is only half as relaxing as Damage is, it will be an ideal late evening album to play with your love close, enjoying a late evening glass of red wine and the album together. Life can be a lot worse.
Pearl
is a song that could have been sent to the Eurovision Song Contest
instead of winner Duncan Lawrence. It is unbelievably more beautiful, just
as powerful and does not need the horrendous vocal acrobatics. He would instantly have received my douze points. Pearl is
so incredibly beautiful. For several seconds I was under the impression
to be listening to another modern classic piano song, until Morpheus
started singing and simply one name pops up: Patrick Watson. Music isn't a
competition, except for that Eurovision one, but Morpheus can compete
with the Canadian easily. Pearl is a dreamy song, somewhere between
electronic and analogue. Producer Thomas Azier managed to keep the
balance between the two in perfect order. The piano is at its heart but
there are slowly but surely all sorts of other sounds let into the mix,
making it a different song. Martijn Verhagen, he is Morpheus, has
released his second EP, 'The Ascent', last week. Pearl is an extremely
interesting introduction.
If I'd received So We Find Ourselves first in my inbox, I would have added Fink to Patrick Watson in the single by Morpheus right above Fink's new single. That is three very relaxed songs in a row by the way. Also here the link to Patrick Watson is evident. Fink's music is almost more atmospheric that melodic. The music is almost cut out of the whole. His voice is extremely prominent. Behind him there are more holes then notes. There are indistinct sounds in between the piano notes, human and instruments. The result is ultimate beauty. Music can hardly be made slower than this. Fin Greenall is at his most bare here. There's no escaping, there are no cover ups when music is so empty. The result is glorious and soulful. As if Otis Redding was allowed one acoustic session after all. Something like that. I have heard many a nice and good song by Fink through the years but never like this. A big tip of the hat.
Wout de Natris
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