2024. Week 35, 10 singles

With the holidays over, it is time for a new post written by yours truly. It turns out that I had one in reserve that I've forgotten all about. Literally as well, as I have no recoglection of any of these songs. Sorry, artists. Slated over by sunshine, warmth, tinto de veranos and other fun things one does on holiday. In my case, this does not involve listening to new music. On the good side, I did enjoy listening to this collection of songs at the time, as you are about to find out. Enjoy!

Long For Ruin. Joan as Police Woman

There was a time when I went to live shows and was on the lookout for new albums by Joan as Police Woman and then? Nothing, silence and I do not know why, really. Late June and a new single is announced for an upcoming album, 'Lemons, Limes and Orchids' announced for 20 September. Long For Ruin is a jazzy and psychedelic track. Not a lot appears to be happening, while at the same time Joan Wasser mesmerises me like she did in the 00s. All is slow and relaxed, offset by the somewhat nervous, dance influenced drumming. The bass is oh so nice and deep. The keyboards and her slow vocal allow me to as it were float on the music, making me feel so relaxed. Just what I need in the summer heat of today. It may be more than ten years since I last heard music by Joan as Police Woman. The renewed acquaintance is welcome.

Way With Words. Girl With A Hawk

With its maxi single 'Keep 'Er Lit' Girl With A Hawk debuted on the blog. The next step in the five piece's career is this single Way With Words. To my surprise I'm hearing a combination of country music and Kim Wilde. The latter is not that strange, the former is. The combination does work though. Everything is loud enough to not be passed as country, while the sound of the guitars and the way of singing does put it there. The keyboard brings in the early 80s postpunk pop of the U.K. circa 1981. The comments coming with the bio are as shameful as they are hilarious. The bio speaks of  "well-meant advise" to a musician, including "taking guitar lessons". The answer to all this "well-meant" advise is Way With Words, a great pop track with, like I already surmised myself, "country chords". Linda Viers and band have given their well-meaning audience the best answer possible.

Tomorrow Morning. Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures

Step back in time with Derek Smith c.s. in their July released single Tomorrow Morning. If someone had told me this was a long lost single from the 1970s I would have believed it. There's some 'Goat Head Soup' style, so Mick Taylor influenced, song, some Fleetwood Mac, some Jefferson Starship, as in Craig Chaquico styled, smooth guitar playing and the vocal style of a host of singers from the era who were not afraid of showing off their vocal range. Derek Smith and band all recreate this with a very nice song of their own. Tomorrow Morning is a rich song, with a lush arrangement. It shows the aspirations of the band. With a sound like this you do not want to play in the local pub or community centre. Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures seem ready to go way beyond.

Good Impression. Tamar Berk

Tamar Berk went through a rough time in her private life and instead of taking it slow for a year in making music, it resulted in a new album. The first single of that album is Good Impression, a good and right rock song. The song brings me back a few decades and that can be a good place to be in, when a song is as nice and tight as Good Impression is. Tamar Berk does a few things totally right. The basis is as I wrote tight. Drums, bass and rhythm guitar are all super together. Listen closely, because I can't possibly count the number of overdubs on guitar there are. Little melodies and rhythmic bursts simply fly all around my ears. Berk does the same with the vocals. She harmonises, adds background vocals in abundance. And somewhere underneath there's a keyboard as well. Most importantly, Good Impression is a good song. I can play it multiple times in a row without it ever getting boring in whatever way. It makes me very, very curious for the album. That album, 'Good Times for a Change', her fourth in four years, will be out on 6 September.

Trash Fest Split 7". The Downhauls / Duck & Cover

The Downhauls can be found on this blog a few times this decade. Duck & Cover is a new name to me. The two bands released a split single, like is a tradition in punk for decades. Trash Fest is in commemoration of the Trash Fest organised in Somerville, Ma's now closed Abbey Lounge, where all lovers of punk gathered for loud parties involving loads of live bands. You'll excuse me as a citizen of NL to never have heard of, let alone been to the parties. Thanks to this split single I'm catching up a little. The Downhauls share 'The Tower', a rough sounding punk song that goes for the core of punk music. Duck & Cover shares 'Girl From Nowhere', that is a more pop punk oriented song. Both can be called punk music, yet are very different. 'The Tower' is a tight song based on very rhythmic playing, power and riffs based on power chords played on a distorted guitar. Duck & Cover are more subtle and reminds me more of circa 1980 U.S. power punkpop bands. The guitars are played with lead melodies around a chord and short bursts of solo notes. Have the two bands on one bill and you might just have a perfectly balanced evening.

Blindspot. Nothingheads

Some more wild abandon punk. This time from the U.K. Nothingheads are working towards the release of its first full-length album, 'The Art Of Sod' to be released in November. With Blindspot the Londoners certainly put themselves on the map. The drummer pounds away like The Ramones still need to be invented and the bass has this great, slightly distorted sound, making totally clear where the bottom end of Blindspot lies. Singer Rob Fairey has that sneer in his voice that comes with punk music from London in the mid 70s. He has inherited the sneer from long retired punk singers of that day. The result is an energy jolt where enthusiasm surpasses skills, while the wild playing pleases Nothingheads members' mum and dad's faintest of memories of punk parties almost forgotten by them. At the same time Nothingheads know exactly how to create a U.K. punk song and how to make it sound as authentic as possible. This edition of the singles post is full of musical time machines it seems.

Koalas. Tess Parks

"... it was one of those moments when you hear a song and you know it’s going to be one of your favourite, most cherished songs for your whole life. It's the most beautiful music I've ever heard." These are Tess Parks' words in the bio announcing her upcoming album and first single Koalas. She reflects here on listening to the track her producer and collaborator Ruari Meehan had sent her by email. Is it?, is the question even the least inquisitive people might ask. No, I answer, but that is a personal answer. Yes, I answer, when I try to imagine Tess Parks listening to the track for the first time. Let's face it, Tess Parks does not exude light in abundance. Her voice is downcast and her songs are (extremely) moody. Seen from this perspective, Koalas is a very upbeat song. The way it is built up shows a positive outset, allowing Parks to sing with her smoky, husky voice. Koalas is the kind of song Danish band Saybia would make an anthem out of. Tess Parks keeps things small. The only exuberance is the whistling of Molly Lewis but let me not forget the beautiful piano part played by Francesco ‘Pearz’ Perini, that make a big part of Koalas. I am too old to have just "one most beautiful song". Twist my arm and I'd say 'Wish You Were Here'. Koalas stands out in a totally different way, but stand out it does.

Plastic Venus. Cosmic Room 99

This single is a true debut single from Italian Psych rockers Cosmic Room 99. The lyrics abhor that everything today is made of plastic. The band name points to a revealed NATO plan to make a lot of people die to keep the earth sustainable. Dan Brown in real life? That book starts in Italy, if I remember correctly. The music is an erratic and nervous outing into psych rock. Expect drums that pound on and on, fully supported by the bass and a guitar that plays a nervous riff or plays long notes. In the overdubs the guitar does all the extras, including long held chord strokes. At times a Farfisa like organ joins in, lending authenticity to the psych sound. I'll be honest and share that I'm not completely convinced by Cormic Room 99 (yet) but the introduction certainly is worthwhile mentioning to you. 'Cosmic Room 99' is released on 11 October. By that time we will learn more.

Love Insurrection. Primal Scream

"Just what is it that you want to do? Well, we wanna be free, we wanna be free to do what we wanna do. And we wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time", this sample from a movie was what introduced me to Primal Scream, a very long time ago. A few years later 'Rocks' followed, the band's The Rolling Stones inspired single. Not much else though came over the decades that caught my intention. Primal Scream is not for me, usually. That last word implies that I do listen when a new single is announced. With Love Insurrection Bobbie Gillespie c.s. delve into soul music from the 70s, spike it with a 1989 Madchester rhythm and violins that could come from any time, while they appear almost isolated from the rest of the track. It all results in a great soul track that shows how good this band can be in my book. This is a balm of and for the soul, while not being afraid to spike the song with all sorts of extras in a successful way. Love Insurrection may be abhorrent to the band's every day fans, for this one it is a bull's eye.

Little Bird. Hungrytown

There are so many albums being released that it is impossible to even come close to keeping up. Unfortunately, Hungrytown's album 'Circus For Sale'  was one of the albums I never got around to listening to. Enter the release of single Little Bird. The intro is so sympathetic. A harmonica solo plays over a folkrock and pop tune. A female voice takes over from the harmonica, singing in a modest, yet determined way. She brings Mary Hopkin's hits to mind. Perhaps totally uncalled for, as I haven't heard any of these songs for ages. Little Bird has that kind of upbeat melancholy mood, underscored by what Rebecca Hall sings: "some days, I just sing sad songs, some days I don't sing songs at all". When she does sing though, she provides an in between vibe, that Little Bird is filled with from beginning to end. Hungrytown is a duo, besides Hall there is Ken Anderson. On Little Bird the duo presents a late 60s kind of pop that sounds very authentic, while obviously not being stuck there, as the rhythm is far more pressing that it was at the time. A nice hybrid musically as well, Little Bird is.

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