Two Flies In One Clap. Itches

Whoa, fasten your seatbelts, hold on to the side bars and prepare for a take off that comes close to a rocket launch. Itches goes the whole length on its album Two Flies In One Clap. The Belgian band rocks no little in other words. Garage rock for the 21st century, I think that comes closest to describing the music on the album.

Itches comes from the Kempen, an area with farmland, small towns, an arboretum, walking trails through heather and forests, all to the east of Antwerp and beneath the Dutch border. This tranquil and calm landscape in no way announces the storm on Two Flies In One Clap. Itches is Philippe Peeters (vocals/gitar), Jonas Torfs (bass) and Arno Sels (drums). The rhythm section keeps up a huge wall of sound over which Peeters can do all he can to complete the storm that is Itches' music.

Listen closely and you will find some overdubs of all kinds that a trio can't reproduce on stage, the little sounds, an extra guitar or rhythm, not to forget background vocals, that make a song more fun to listen to. This band knows what songs take to make them more fun and better alright. There are extras in a lot of places.

The basis though is the song and Itches scores no little here, as I've found that a lot of them had crept into my head in one go and stayed there. In other words, the vocal melodies are strong, as are the songs'. Regularly there are nice oohs and aahs in the right places, always a good sign. Peeters plays some nice guitar solos as well. The songs overall are so strong, that there's no need to pick one or two out.

Itches comes to their garage rock with a punk attitude. The band goes for it with a positive kind of aggression, to make the most of their shot at making the best music they can. The band's influences start in 1963 with The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie' and from there to 'You Really Got Me' (1964) down into the recesses of garage rock and its more modern incarnations. The songs may be influenced by bands from 60 years ago, the sound is totally modern. Every band can record with a great sound nowadays. Two Flies In One Clap has a huge sound, which makes the album sound impressive as well.

I had never heard of Itches until this album found its way to my mailbox. As it was released during my vacation I had nearly forgotten about it. Just in time I found the reminder in that same mailbox. Am I glad I did. Okay, time to unbuckle and enjoy the rest of my Sunday.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to order Two Flies In One Clap here:

https://itches.bandcamp.com/album/two-flies-in-one-clap