2024. Week 39, 10 singles 3

Yes, another ten singles this week. Next week I will make the final push to catch up with albums of the past months. I'm afraid all others will have to do with either a mention in the singles section or not at all. From next week onwards it will be current albums. Where singles are concerned, there are simply too many nice ones worth writing about. This week you'll not find "big" names. You will find artists familiar to this blog but also a few premiering. So, enjoy the selection!

liefde is lang. De Toegift

De Toegift komen we al een paar jaar tegen op dit blog. Dat de nieuwe single deze post haalt, is dan ook geen verrassing. Het nummer zelf is wel een verrassing. Na een kort dromerig begin met een dwarsfluit die op zoek lijkt naar een richting, grijpt de band in en komt er een tempo in dat mij aan de jaren 80 doet denken. Even lijkt het alsof zanger Maxim Ventulé te vroeg inzet en men het gewoon zo heeft gelaten. In liefde is lang weet De Toegift zijn karakteristieke dromerige sfeer succesvol te combineren met een strak ritme. Zowel (samen)zang als lead gitaar spelen langs en over dat strakke heen. Er zit ook een beetje Spinvis in liefde is lang, maar dat is prima. Net als dat de dwarsfluit aan het begin, nadat de band is ingevallen, het zwierige van 'Prikkebeen' in herinnering brengt. Het maak de nieuwe single van De Toegift alleen maar mooier. Het duurt nog bijna een half jaar, maar er komt een nieuw, tweede album aan.

Girl I Want. Hotbox

Time for some dirty rock and roll. Hotbox plays it in Girl I Want. Not the Chuck Berry and Little Richard style but the rock and roll it evolved in with 1960s garage rock and late in the 70s and early 80s powerrock bands. Played with the huge sound any band can achieve in these modern times. Hotbox makes the most of it and successfully so. Ho, wait! If it were not the case that this is a long lost recording from the 1990s. Bands stop, others are formed and Hotbox is a short lived one that recorded in 1990 after The Dogmatics folded. Hotbox is Jerry Lehane on guitar and vocals, Peter Mulford lead guitar, Frank Pagliughi on bass and Pete Sisco drums. In the two years after the band recorded a total of eight songs and  they will be released by Rum Bar Records. Based on this great rock song, it must be very worthwhile that they were unearthed. If there ever is to be a "Nuggets" box for the 90s, Girl I Want really needs to be on there.

Frequency. New Earth Farmers

Listening to the intro of Frequency, for a moment I thought I had clicked on the wrong song, as I had expected Hendrik-Jan de Wolff to start singing. But no, the voice I heard does not match The Maureens' front man. Paul Knowles' voice is far rougher. Frequency is not the lesser song because of it. Expect a nicely flowing song positioned somewhere between country, pop and rock. New Earth Farmers at heart is a duo, Nicole Storto and Knowles but they are helped out James DePrato (guitars and lead guitar), Nigel Twist (drums) and Kevin T. White (bass). Together they form a tight band. Frequency has that quality that comes with good songs in this genre that can only come from the U.S. or so one would think. (Remember how I started this review. it's meant as a tip.) New Earth Farmers continues its relationship with WoNoBlog. On 4 October the new album sees the light of day. It's called 'The Sky From The Underground'.

Cherry Pie. Fazerdaze

With Cherry Pie Fazerdaze returns to WoNoBlog with a bang. Imagine Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark synths with a strong but soft beat and dreamy vocals. Oh, wait, that describes the band perfectly, doesn't it? So let's trade in Andy and Paul, OMD's two singers, for Amelia Murray and there's the new Fazerdaze. This is all meant positively because Cherry Pie is a, well, delicious track. After the intro the synth lead sets the mood for the song and all the other sounds follow suit. The only thing Murray needs to do is sing the song home. She does. Pay attention to that bass part as well. I have a strong feeling it's all electronic though. In the meantime it is Amelia Murray that pulls the song to her voice more and more. You will notice that she may have begun a bit hesitant. After the first chorus she's in control for the whole of the way, even pushing the synth to the background. Only for it to return full force towards the end. By then the point of Cherry Pie was made abundantly. 'Soft Power' Fazerdaze's sophomore album, not counting her 2022 EP 'Break!', is released on 15 November.

We Can't Go Wrong. I Believe In My Mess

A single that seems to have nothing to do with the 2020s nor the 2010s nor much else before that either. Yet, it is far from music that is totally and fundamentally new. It holds some elements that could be heard in Steve Winwood's music in the 1980s, it has faint traces of a dance rhythm, it is sung with the deadness of a 1980s doom band singer who was certain the world would end in a nuclear storm any day soon and it holds a spoken word section as if from a 1960s b-movie. So, what makes up We Can't Be Wrong? It is a mix of many things where the1980s pop up the most, as there's also that high synth sound. Let's take a look at the band then. I Believe In My Mess is not a U.K. band as I expected but a Dutch duo, Frank van Praag en Geert de Groot, in fact I must have seen them play live at some point in one of the many other bands they play.have played in. The bio says: "Embrace your own imperfections and the chaos that life brings". We Can't Be Wrong is all but imperfection and chaos. The song has the same vibe as two bands from long ago had, Kewi University of Swing and The Mo. Add the lo-fi sound and there you have the combination of so many elements called We Can't Be Wrong. Well, whatever it is or should be described, this single works alright. And, it is the title track of the album that is released on 4 October.

A Drink Before the War. Falsely Accused

Back to rock we go. Falsely Accused is a band from New England. You will not find it on this blog before today. The only part where the band relaxes, as the title more or less suggests, is in the beginning. One guitar, with a clean sound, plays the intro chords that have a faint trace to Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. Then the guitarist kicks in a pedal or two and there the band flies off in a little storm called A Drink Before The War. A title that until very recently I would have dismissed as very theoretical, just like I would have an illiberal party winning the elections by a landslide in my country. The second has already come true and I'm not so certain about the first any more. Falsely Accused plays as if the band members have the same fear. The song can be called post grunge as it has that power combined with that feeling of being dragged behind. The trio, Mike Azzolino: drums, percussion, and backup vocals, Matt Tavano: bass and lead vocals and Mark Young: guitar and backup vocals, really goes for it. Believe it or not, singer Tavano sees the song as a love song to his wife. I did not see that one coming.

Goodnight. Being Dead

In just a few weeks Being Dead finds itself once again on this blog. On the day it's album 'Eels' is released as well. On the previous single, I wrote: "Van Goes is an energetic single full of weirdness and surprises, the kind that is unpredictable". In part this goes for Goodnight as well. A psychedelic vibe is all around, a The Velvet Underground guitar clearly present, the style of singing can be linked to a host of songs from the mid 60s. Feel free to pick your own favourite. What I like about Midnight is that unpredictability without the weirdness taking over in excess. In combination with the song's clear direction. "You are mysterious", the two singers sing and that describes Being Dead's new single quite well I have to say. Goodnight is an as nice as it is an intriguing song.

Made Of Rain. Beauty In Chaos

Beauty In Chaos returns to this blog with a song filled with inner tension and yet is a lesson in restraint at the same time. Michael Ciravolo worked together with singer Ashton Nyte, who was on this blog very recently with his own single 'Mirror Midnight'. Because of his style of singing on Made Of Rain I totally understand his nickname 'Bowie of Johannesburg' totally by the way. Made Of Rain is a dark song with a layered sound over which Nyte can sing his slow vocal line, letting the vowels in his lyrics linger just a little longer. To great effect I have to say. Ciravolo has listened quite well to 80s bands like The Cult and creates his own world from there. The lead guitar draws out the notes just as easily. Underneath things are very solid. The drums and bass make sure that everyone understand this is a solid (goth) rock ballad. The synth provides a warm carpet for the listener to lie and wallow on in this beautiful rock track. There's appears to have gone a lot of feeling into Made Of Rain. It comes out totally.

Lullaby For The Lost. Current Joys

In both 2021 and 2023 Current Joys can be found on this blog with a single, never with an album though. In 2024 there's another single for you, Lullaby For The Lost. The tempo and the repetition of the song does the first word in the title right. Expect a slow ballad in a folky way. Nick Rattigan, who releases his songs under the name Current Joys, presents the song chiefly with an acoustic guitar. It plays this beautiful riff every time when he has finished a verse line.The song starts and ends with it. The overall mood of the song is totally slacker but not before a lot of work has gone into creating this arrangement. Another point of proof here is the intricate arrangement of the solo. This is so nicely done. Current Joys totally shines here. There's simply not enough room for more albums on this blog. Lullaby For The Lost has made me curious for the upcoming album. 'East My Love' is due out October 11th.

Ridley & Me After The Apocalypse. The Armoires

Songs and albums come to me in many ways. Some directly from the artist, from the label or press agencies. It is not every day that the two coincide. In this week's post it happens twice. (Also see I Believe In My Mess.) The Armoires is the band of the two people behind Big Stir Records, Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome. You have found multiple singles and albums released by them over the past years. This fact alone does not merit a post of course. What does, is the fine 80s inspired pop song Ridley & Me After The Apocalypse is. Just that synth riff alone justifies a mention. It takes me back forty years easily. Ridley etc. is an upbeat pop song despite the single's title, making the apocalypse something to look forward to. The intro to the song is quite daring by the way. It takes close to one minute and even involves a violin before that heavenly synth sets in, announcing the singing as it turns out. Album 'Octoberland' is out on 11 October.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght