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Moondog. Leif Vollebekk
In the fall of 2019 I saw Leif Vollebekk play a support show for Half Moon Run. The Canadian did not receive a fully complementary review. This is his first step towards a new album since the pandemic, that started less that three months after that November show. Who could have thought? Moondog is a song that falls nicely in step with fellow Canadians like Half Moon Run and Patrick Watson. Mostly though we hear an acoustic guitar with a bass drum rhythm and his voice. Only slowly other sounds are let into the song. Vollebekk builds up his song expertly, while sharing his story with the listeners. As I noticed then, he has a very pleasant voice. It has a little edge and a depth that is just right for the conversational way of singing Moondog has. If he performs alone, undoubtedly the same objections will appear with songs like this also. On record though this song wins, as it seems to have it all. Album 'Revelation' is slated for somewhere in the fall.
For
a second there I thought to be listening to a new song by Lauren Mann
and the Odd Folks, were it not that Lauren recently released a new solo
song called 'Medicine'. From there I am sucked back into the "hey-ho" or
"ho-hey" music of about a decade ago. Wild Remedy opts for just "hey".
In short, expect a nice folk song, with loads of acoustic instruments
and joyful singing. Wild Remedy is a trio, Amy Russett, Colleen
Roberston and Shay Mahoney, from Ottawa and Montreal in Canada. Home
Song is the single from an EP called 'Songs From Home'. The trio is
obviously influenced by anything in between The Lumineers, Of Monsters
And Men and Mumford and Suns. Music that came like a comet and
disappeared as one. Now, so many years later, I am glad to be remembered
of it by a fresh sounding song and just as fresh sounding vocals.
Welcome
back to the blog, Linnea's Garden. The new single is a moderate rock
song, with a lyric that will get Tipper Gore out of her retirement home
to walk all the way up to the Capitol. I like the video even more
though. It shows how the woman living next door can turn herself into a
rock star with just a few visuals changes. Linnea shows how its done.
She becomes glam all the way. The music isn't as huge as the classic
glamrock from the U.K. around 1973. I associate it more with the
alternative rock coming out of Boston in the first half of the 90s. The
Lemonheads, Buffalo Tom, to name two. I like how the bass drives the
song in the intro, together with strong, supportive drums. The strange
thing to Chaotic Bisexual Summer is that I like the verse better than
the chorus. This seldom happens. All in all the new single is a fine
song though.
I Wanna Dance Like Professor Plumb. Boris the Sprinkler
Two
questions do pop up reading the above. Who is Professor Plumb and what
kind of a name is Boris the Sprinkler? No answers for now. This song is
an extremely dirty kind of punk song. The sound is muddied, the tempo
relentless, the stance one of get out of our way or be trampled under
foot by a pogoing mob. The band is around since 1992, so after 32 years
I'm catching up finally, thanks to Boston's finest, Rum Bar Records. What
else? In a way I Wanna Dance Like Professor Plumb reminds me of the Toy
Dolls, but the music is too serious to be associated with the punk
pranksters. Just listen to how the bass of Ric Six pumps this song
around. The guitar solo that peels the tips of my fingers just from
imagining playing it. There actually is a Professor Plumb active in
music. Whether he's any good at dancing I don't know. If he is, he
better start practising some good old pogo style jumping. This is one
hell of a single.
Will
there ever be new music by U.K. trio The xx? Now all members are active
as solo artists, it is a justified question to ask. With Always Forever
singer Romy has released a tremendously upbeat single. In the way that
80s songs at the time could be optimistic and upbeat. They usually were
not, or at best mildly so. Romy's single is though. She obviously feels
loved and shouts it from the rooftops or dance floor, whatever you
prefer. The pulsing synth just roll on and on taking the beat with it.
The call and response way of singing underscore the upbeat feeling and
the beat. It took me about a minute to get into the groove and vibe but
after that I was sold.
Can
you sing punkrock in Swedish? I can answer that question positively as
of this moment. Singer Sushila, from Sweden, fronts the Trondheim,
Norway band Slitasje ("wear and rear" in Swedish) and shouts her Swedish
lyrics as loud as she can. En Slags Love Song ("elskar dei", if I'm not
mistaken is I love you in Swedish) is a fully charged energetic song,
where the band is not holding back. Everything is rhythm about the song,
until a lead guitar escapes in the outro, to lay down a nice solo. What
is also very nice are the harmonies. The long-held oohs and aahs
supporting the lead vocal are as nice as anything in punkrock. What is
the name of that Australian punk band I went to see on a Friday evening
long ago after listening to the soundcheck in Q-Bus, Leiden? Slitasje
has it to. The album 'Mondag Morgon' is out since 28 June.
Speaking
of music that has gone out of style. Earth Quake's Everywhere I Go
certainly qualifies playing music in the style of (Jefferson) Starship
(mach 2), Whitesnake and such. The band has a right to do so, as most
members were around themselves at the time. Robbie Dunbar revived his
band with Larry Lynch, Jimmy 'Jet' Spalding and new singer Jesse
Bradman. Bradman has the voice to nail it, powerful and sailing ever higher
when the song calls for it. Everywhere I Go has the power a classic rock
song from the 80s should have. I'm sure it would have been noticed at the time as
well. Out of style it may be, there are still fans. "We built this city
on rock and roll", did we not?
"At
our shows from the Momentary Presence tour, people would stand in the
crowd wide-eyed without moving. We wanted to get people moving with the
new album", says singer/guitarist TJ Freda on the music on GIFT's
upcoming album 'Illuminator' (23 August). Whether the music qualifies or
the audience obliges, there's is no way of telling yet. If Going In
Circles is any indication they might just do so. Going In Circles has
that early The Cure kind of drive, vibe and rhythm, think 'A Forest'. I
do not think of dance music but certainly of moving while listening.
GIFT thinks more of 1990s Madchester kind of music. I\m probably just
considerably older with my association. The way the chorus explodes in a
joyous way certainly is not The Cure any more. GIFT reminds me of a lot
of things I liked in the past and do not mind hearing again in this
enthusiastic way.
And
once again another band from Boston making its debut on this blog. On
Bird Language's Bandcamp page there are recordings going back to 2015
though, all beyond my reach at the time. Not the four song EP Chasing
Echoes though. This EP rocks no little. An instrumental song 'Full
Voltron' is mixed with a classic 1990s kind of rock song influenced by
the 1980s like 'Heartbreak Summertime'. Big vocals, big sound, huge
guitars all come by. The band, Andrew Doherty - Guitar, Jeff Nicolai -
Vocals, keyboards, piano, Dave Norton - Drums, Pat Piasecki - Bass, Neil
Simmons - Guitar, consists of members who have been around and play the
music they like best. That is music from the past but sounding
tremendously fresh. Just listen how Bird Language's ballad 'Perfido'
jumps out of the speakers. The band just does everything right here.
With not falling into the mellow trap for one. With 'Slow Shove' as the
closest song to the 1980s rock era, see Earth Quake above here. But also
listen to how much more power Bird Language puts into Slow Shove and
then that ending. The four songs together make for a pretty good EP. Keep me
posted please.
After GIFT, see above, another song that brings me back a few decades. My first thought is to put on a few nice The Kinks singles from the 1960s. Not that Any Day Now is a clone of 'Waterloo Sunset' or 'Mr. Pleasant', it has that same kind of warm vibe. Kate Bollinger sings with a hoarse, French sigh girl kind of voice over a song that is a mix of positive and melancholy feelings. The mix really works and makes Any Day Now a song I want to listen to over and over. She is a new name on the blog and working towards the release of her debut album, 'Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind', due on September 27th. Summer (what summer?) over, in other words. Based on this single, it should be worth the wait though. The song is slowly built up, From two acoustic guitars to a full band sound, including an erratic tambourine, filled with all sort of nice little extras. Another big name that comes to mind, George Harrison. Any Day Now would not have looked out of place on one of George's later 70s albums. Perhaps even have stood out there. Any Day Now is a very nice introduction to Kate Bollinger's music. The end, except for the pet, could have been better though.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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