2025. Week 3, 10 singles

And already the third week of the year is nearly over. Grey, foggy, wet-coldish and very little sun. The Christmas tree is out of the house and all days seem like 'Blue Monday'. We can always put on the New Order 12" and celebrate that the days are a little longer already. Or listen to a bunch of new singles and EPs, like I have. Enjoy.

Christmas Came Early (But Not in a Good Way)!. After Elmer

Christmas comes rather late to WoNoBlog, I'm afraid, but not too late to point to Rotterdam's After Elmer's Christmas single of 2024. The band debuted on the blog with single '246 Toothpicks' just under two years ago and returns with this so enthusiastic single. Fans of Green Day can start listening without any qualms. After Elmer wrote the band's Christmas single for 2025 for them in 2024. That conclusion is enough, as the melody is there, the power, the fun and cheekiness. For a good punkrock song Christmas never comes too early, let alone too late.

Launch The Rocket EP. Tape Toy

Rotterdam label Mattan Records signed another band from Amsterdam, showing relationships between the two cities can be perfectly normal. Tape Toy is a band that combines alternative pop, with eighties doom and synths, creating its own version of postpunk pop. Single 'Anyone, Anything' was welcomed on this blog in September but is only partly a harbinger of what is to come. 'Shotgun' for example is a far more direct song. This band knows how to rock when it wants to and releases a rock version of Kim Wilde to name one famous artist from the 80s. Where opening song 'Anyone, Anything' knows layers of synths, they disappear in 'Shotgun', like in the final and title song 'Launch The Rocket'. This song is a ballad, yet explodes at the right moments. Label mate Pom is not far away in this song. This EP is consistent in quality, yet varied in the way songs are approached. Tape Toy is able to move from the somewhat mysterious to very direct 80s style rock. The band may not have a very distinctive sound, but then who has these days unless you're a band like Franz Ferdinand?, Launch The Rocket convinces me. The two remaining songs 'Swim and 'Shirt' attest to that statement. Mattan Records has signed yet another very worthwhile band.

I Cried. The Hellflowers

More punkrock fun pouring from the local tap in Boston, Rum Bar Records. The Hellflowers make their debut on WoNoBlog. The band is from Los Angeles, so I can only hope everyone is alright!, and formed in 2015. Christina Hellflower, vocal, guitar, Matt Eskew, bass, Alex Mack, lead guitar, Stevyn Grey, drums (on the record) and Richie Mendez, drums bring back good memories with an urgent yet fun punkrock song that contains a truckload of pop melodies on the side. The opening is already different with a keyboard producing a gamalan sounding riff, that keeps returning all throughout the song. Whoever is playing it, it's a nice addition making the song a little different from the pack. Yes, I certainly would like to hear more from where this is coming in 2025.

The Blues Is Still #1. The Mono Kids

Since 2023 The Mono Kids regularly feature in the singles section of this blog. It's new maxi single The Blues Is Still #1 is no exception. Drummer Roelof and guitarist and singer Michel are raging for a while before silence descends in the home once again. Not for long though, as the inclination to push play once again is certainly present. The single is a homage to a band that grew to notoriety in the 1990s, the Jon Spencer Blues Band. The individual songs are dedicated to the band's three members. The band existed longer than I thought, 2016. The Mono Kids recreates the dirty punk sound perfectly. The sound is like wading through a bog sucking at your feet the whole of the time. Yet, there's so much energy that moving forward is guaranteed. The Mono Kids do not allow any rest for the wicked. Nor anyone else for that matter. If you still have not gotten the message, it's repeated throughout the single: the blues is still #1, even for the punk/garage rock band The Mono Kids is.

Bleu. Scarlet Rae

"This is my most vulnerable song", Scarlet Rae tells the world. The song takes its title from a part of her sister's name. She's from California, where she fronted a folk band called Rose Dorn. After moving to Brooklyn she started working on her own songs and here is the first one released on Bayonet Records, where she signed to. The song is obviously vulnerable and downcast, underscoring the title. It is however not so much the sound as a whole, as there are electric guitars, a bass and softer drums. The sound is far from clean. Scarlet Rae's voice is soft and vulnerable, mixed a little into the music, as she doesn't really want to be heard. Around her voice are all sorts of little digitised vocal effects, giving Bleu some playfulness anyway. Bleu is not a song for all moments of the day, but definitely one that makes me curious what is coming next. Welcome to the blog, miss Rae.

The Way I See It. I Am Oak

Not so long ago, I thought that I Am Oak could be a good band for a living room show,  immediately followed by the thought, when did I hear a new song by the band? That turns out to be four years ago, according to my blog's search engine. Today a new song is here, to be followed by a new album, 'Time Drifts', in April. Expect a dreamy song, as that is Thijs Kuijken's line of business. But that is not all. It may be because it's been a while since I played an I Am Oak album, yet I have the strong impression that the music is richer, more layered. Multitracked vocals and a layer of synths meander through The Way I See It, making it a warm and rich song. The Way I See It may be dreamy, I assure you, you will not fall asleep. Too much is happening here. The music slowly but surely wraps itself around you like a warm blanket.

I Love How You Love Me EP. Lynda Mandolyn

I have no idea who Lynda Mandolyn is, but her EP reminds me of one of the oldest singles I own, Nancy Sinatra's 'Like I Do'/ 'To Know Him Is To Love Him'. Wikipedia tells me its from 1962, that may be. It's there for most of my life, as it was a part of my aunt's collection, and today mine's. The title track of I Love How You Love Me, is the reversed version of Nancy's B-side. It has the mood and sweet stickiness of the track that of course has been recorded by many artists. The atmosphere may be caught perfectly, the sound is totally different. It's more like Laura Palmer is singing the song, just before the 'Twin Peaks' mystery starts. There is a certain darkness in the sound and in the way I Love How You Love Me seems to drag its feet. And then hear that dark guitar in the background in the whispered part. A mighty thunderstorm is gathering over Lynda's head. The two songs that follow, 'Little Dreamer' and 'Billet Doux', remain in this segment of early 60s pop girl song, with a dark sheen over them, giving them a mystique that is David Lynch worthy. We have to live on without the cinematic master and Lynda Mandolyn is leading the way.

Something Good. Shane Alexander

If it is possible to call a foreign musician a friend, Shane Alexander fits the bill. I am glad to hear a new song from him and am surprised to read that he wrote this single with Dutch singer-songwriter Judy Blank. In our weekly Covid front lawn shows in 2020 my, now, wife and I played her song 'Mary Jane' with a lot of fun. Something Good is a softer and more serious song. The two wrote the song during Zoom sessions, after having been put together by Shane Alexander's publishing company. "Someday soon something good is going to come", he sings. That day is here, folks. Something Good is a pop track, incorporating a country vibe, underscored by a pedal steel playing in the background, yet very audible. Everything is delicate about the track. As a whole it is very present though, the kind that I can play multiple times in a row with ease. If this is the result of a Zoom session, I would opt for a few more in the future. Album 'Forever Songs' will come out this spring.

Shut Up And Drink Your Beer. Miss Georgia Peach

'There's A Guy Down At The Chips Shop Swears He's Elvis'. If you like that Kirsty McColl classic hit, you're at the right address with Miss Georgia Peach and band. This is rock and roll with a country twist if I ever heard one. Shut Up And Drink Your Beer is the kind of amalgam that created the genre rock and roll long before all involved in this review were born. Once again the people from Nashville Pussy join Peach and her partner Travis Ramin to really rock out together. Ruyter Suys plays a few guitar solos that are simply on fire, just like they should be. This single is simply too much fun to pass over.

Mudcrawlers. Mekons

For a band that's active since forming at the University of Leeds in the mid 70s and releasing records since 1979, it managed to stay off my radar until early 2025. Quite a feat, I'd say. It only took a few seconds into Mudcrawlers for me to know that I wanted to hear the whole song and most likely write on the single as well. Mudcrawlers somehow manages to mix folk with punk and rock and the type of folk singing that became popular in the late 1960s. Most of the band's members appear to be singing here in a way that reminds me of Moody Blues, with female voices added. There's a violin really spiking the song. Expect a dense sound, yet extremely playful. What I also like, is how the song slowly shifts from the rocking guitar to a seemingly softer version of itself when the violin joins in. That is all in the mind, as this song really rocks. Mudcrawlers brings decades together, from when Mekons' members were teenagers and everything since. That is a lot of musical power that comes together in 2025.

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