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Rich Man's Valley. Karen Jonas
Everyone's
allowed a favourite country singer and mine, for years, is Karen Jonas.
She's doing a Kickstarter campaign to fund her new album called 'The
Ride And Fall Of American Kitsch', so if you haven't yet go out and
support her. Rich Man's Valley is one of the songs on that to come album
and it may be one of the richest but also traditional songs she's ever
released. It holds all the tricks country rock songs should hold ever
since Emmylou covered Chuck's 'C'est La Vie'. So, expect a rolling
piano, a violin and a full band supporting that lovely yet powerful
voice. Karen Jonas had released a host of good albums but if Rich Man's
Valley is anything to go by, she is setting all shyness aside, if there
ever was any, and really, really goes for it. This single is not only a
rich song, it is great fun as well. It has it all.
Layne Staley is alive and changed his name into Martin Söderqvist and moved to Sweden. No, this is not a one on one Alice In Chains copycat. The longer the song lasts the more unique features Into The Light gets. The beginning though is as if Smash Atoms is dredging through tarmac just before it becomes solid. Grunge as it was once meant to be. The musicians in Smash Atoms have made music together under a few names before drawing my attention with Into The Light. Another band they have obviously listened to is Metallica, e.g. 'Enter Sandman'. The guitars can't get much deeper, the drums hardly more sustained. Enter darkness with the light of melodies that certainly are present throughout this song. Expect the debut album after the summer.
Alternative
rock from down under, but Quivers is from Australia. Yes, one has come
to expect it to be from New Zealand on this blog, true. Quivers is Sam
Nicholson (guitars), Bella Quinlan (bass), Michael Panton (guitars), and
Holly Thomas (drums). The band released two albums before signing to
the US label Merge. The album 'Oyster Cult' is expected on 9 August.
Should you go and listen to this nice introduction to the band, expect
double guitar work and a sound somewhere between 'Green' R.E.M. and
singing like The Oh Hellos. The band's members alternate in a great way
in the lyrics. I'd even go as far as that The Mamas and The Papas could
have sounded like this had it started its career in the 2020s. The
combination of the upbeat indie rock music and the fun singing makes
Apparition an extremely attractive single. In fact, I love it.
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After
the great indierock fun of Quivers it took me a few minutes to get into
Efterklang's dreamy music. I'm glad I took that time, as after the
modest start of Plant, the song slowly but surely is fleshed out and
blossoms fully well before it's over. The Danish band is not afraid to
make its point slowly and turns that into a strength on its new single
announcing the upcoming album 'Things We Have In Common', 27 September.
Efterklang is a band that hovers between the electronic and instruments with strings and skins.
Drums and bass start the song, behind it are strange noises that could
well be made by an electric guitar. Although that I hear mostly traditional
instruments, it is as if something electronic keeps everything together, creating the mood and atmosphere of Plant.
Mabe Fratti joins later in the song, adding a whispery female voice to
Casper Clausen's rather highish voice. Together they are the perfect pair
for Plant.
Minneapolis'
Bermuda Squares returns quite soon to this blog. Not even two weeks since 'Car
Accident' here's Robbery. The band does not need a
lot of time to make its point. This is punk or 00s garage rock,
whatever you prefer to call it, as it was made a long time ago and still
is made today. Bermuda Squares enters my room at full speed and except
for a very, very short break just before the choruses, keeps the speed up. The music is fast, raw, and without any scruples. Bermuda
Squares rocks and then rocks some more. Like all good punk songs,
there's a good melody allowing for singing, uhm, shouting along to. Yes,
there's anger and aggression in Robbery, but not of the negative kind.
It is used to provide us all with a fun time. Robbery is a great single.
All hundred and thirty nine seconds of it.
The
mood could not be brought more down than the chance placing of these
two singles. Thank you is a stand alone single of the duo Terrible Sons
from New Zealand. (Musical) partners Lauren and Matt Barus play as bare
as possible. With a lot of echo on the acoustic guitar and their voices
(mostly Lauren) they say thank you to fans and audiences one year after
releasing 'The Raft Is Not The Shore' while announcing one final duo
show (in Christchurch). I have missed it all, but not Thank You. No
matter how elementary the song is, it totally hits home for me. Terrible
Sons knows exactly what effect it wants to achieve here and succeeds
gloriously. Thank You is ultimate beauty, so let me thank you, Terrible Sons, as well.
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With
Boom Boom Back Hinds adds another fun song to its oeuvre. Not even
because it is an extremely fantastic song. No, because it spells party time. The sound is built around big drums driving the rhythm
of Hinds' new single. Over it all the band builds out the song. In
nothing shows that this is a Spanish duo. Hinds is somewhere between the
Atlantic as it seems to incorpore as much U.K. as U.S. influences into
the song. Beck, yes the Beck, sings a little with the band, after they
met at a L.A. film festival. Where the singing is concerned, Boom Boom
Back could have done without it and be just as strong. On 6 September
the fourth Hinds album is in the stores, 'Viva Hinds'.
The
Rifles? But that's long ago. My son was barely in high school when we
went to see the band, in Haarlem? With Mr. Sunflower the band delivers a
beautifully rocking pop song. Far more mellow than the hits on The
Rifles' debut album 'No Love Lost'. From 2006! More mellow but certainly
as good, if not better. The message of Mr. Sunflower is extremely
positive as well. "Love your neighbour" sings Joel Stoker. It is alseo the title
of the upcoming album, 5 July. The video shows guitarist Lucas
Crowther's neighbour Simon, who is known as mr. sunflower in the
neighbourhood. He shares his sunflowers with the neighbours. This fun
fact has been turned into an extremely positive song, deserving of the
topic. The neighbour has inspired The Rifles tremendously. I had all but
forgotten about the band and here I am in 2024 looking forward to the
new album.
Singer-songwriter
Beabadoobee or Beatrice Kristi Ilejay Laus as she is known at the
registry's office, is on a steady roll with one album every two years.
She can be found on this blog with 'Fake It Flowers' (2020) and
'Beatopia' (2022) and some singles. Take A Bite is the first single from
the upcoming album 'This Is How Tomorrow Moves' (16 August). Take A
Bite is a song somewhere between Miley Cyrus and indie rock with a pop
hint, oh yeah, that's Miley of course. Beabadoobee to all appearances
sails on the top of this mix in a very successful way. The single has a
bite and is sweet. The latter is in the soft voices of Ms. Laus and some
of the music passages like the dreamy chorus. The drums make it a
tougher song. The same is in the strumming and guitar picking. A little
like Elliot Smith could spike his songs. The combination makes Tale A
Bite a very good song.
A single in 2024 originally released as a bonus track in 2014. Everything is possible in music. It is rightly released though. The main question is: How can a song as strong as Begging For A Taste only have been a bonus track? This song rocks in a deliciously dirty way. Blain Cartwright is singing like he is a 20 year old punk singer, while Ruyter Suys is making her guitar and amp eat fire. This song is totally smoking. There's simply no other word for it.
Wout de Natris
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