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Evil People. Mien
Mien
is a Dutch female name and the name of an American - Canadian psychrock
supergroup. It host a member of The Black Angels, Elephant Stone, The
Earlies and Golden Dawn Arkestra. Mien will release its first record
since 2018, it's second, self-named album in April. Single Evil Music
does not come as a surprise musically. The psych part is taken care of
extremely well. Synths are pulsing all over and Alex Maas' voice is one
in a million. What sticks out more is how fast the pace of Evil People
is. Until the interlude that takes the mood totally down, it is running
in a full sprint. Although I have heard better songs in this genre,
Evil People certainly has a right to exist. Go, Mien.
Paardenmeisje
is the Dutch word for Horsegirl. It is used for young girls that dote
on horses. So, today Horsegirl the band makes its debut on this blog or
so I thought. It's not the case though, as Erwin Zijleman wrote a review
on the album 'Versions Of Modern Performance ' in 2022. I'm not
familiar with the album but what I'm hearing on this single is a nice
ramshackle kind of indierock that plays out as a The Velvet Underground
light. A 2025 variation on 'What Goes On', something like that.
Horsegirl is a New York-via-Chicago trio, Nora Cheng, Penelope
Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece. With Cate le Bon in the producer's chair the
band sounds as hesitatingly as it is confident. It results in a single
that is very straightforward. Horsegirl does not beat around the bush
with Switch Over. I wonder whether this will be the same on ' Phonetics
On and On'. The album releases on 14 February.
Mood
Bored returns to the blog with its most atmospheric single to date.
Wolf Alice, Porridge Radio, fans of bands like these should be running
for the search function on Spotify. Mood Bored hits the jackpot here. I
have certainly been positive on the band but Wet Faced & Ugly is
next level. The use of reverb on the guitar makes the song sound great.
The relaxed pace in combination with the tension within the song from
beginning to end makes it irresistible. Singer Myrthe is all over the
song, showing all the different voices she commands. It is here that
Dana Margolin comes to my mind and not just because of the repeated line
at the end of the song. She is everywhere if you listen on your
headset. Wet Faced & Ugly is a little bit off the beaten path, as far
as I can say that for such a young band, but it makes the band even
more attractive to listen to. I simply love this single.
Looking
at the back pages of WoNoBlog, The Delines is Erwin Zijleman territory. He covered three albums over the past 11 eleven years. I found that
Chris Eckman tours with The Delines in April, so I
thought I better start listening. On the basis of The Haunting Thoughts I
perfectly understand the combination. The Haunting Thoughts is an
extremely slow, jazzy song. The kind you could have heard in a jazz
cellar way after hours, just before everyone goes home and the band can
play what it likes to play itself. A last, real drink, a final smoke. Reading
on the band, I'm surprised to find Willy Vlautin on guitar. A long time
ago I saw him play in Leiden's Q-Bus with his former band Richmond
Fontaine. Now he has teamed up with singer Amy Boone, who graces The
Delines with a mature, smoky voice. Her singing is far removed from the
standard pop voice. It is both mysterious and mature in sound. This may
turn out to be a very pleasant evening in April. The Delines album 'Mr.
Luck & Ms. Doom' is out on 14 February.
'Hidden
Sun' and 'Mindcave' were the singles I reviewed last year. Reading back, I notice they
were musically quite different. The U.K. band returns with
another uptempo song. At first I have the idea to listen to a new single
of The B-52s latching on to the post punk revival bands. It has the same
jumpiness of the U.S. band of old. Moving into Wide Shooter things
change as Tramhaus' forté makes an entrance here as well when things go into
total overdrive. This combination of old and new works really, really
well. The Farfisa organ (sound) gives the song a psychedelic 60s sound on top of it all. There's so much energy oozing out of Dreamwave's single that it
is almost too hard to keep up. It is not just about energy but also the so many
different sounds, voices and ways of singing. The Automatic's 'Monster'
is nothing compared with what is happening here. We will have to remain
patient as there is no album announced. I'm totally happy for now with
Wide Shooter though.
Tamino
releases his third album in March, but he sort of passed me by until his
previous single 'Babylon'. Such things happen. With Sanctuary the
Belgian singer caught my attention once again. This single is something
like beauty incorporated. If there's one thing I do not like, it is the
ending. Too unexpected and sudden. For the rest everything sounds
pleasantly familiar, warm and soothing. He is joined by American
singer-songwriter Mitski for a duet that works really well. They both
have warm voices that circle around each other. Their singing almost makes me
forget the beautiful music that is made behind and around their voices.
Sanctuary is a ballad and a very rich one at that. I love the way how
the pace is kept up by the band, allowing both singers to shine totally.
Two singles into the future release, I can't but say that I'm in anxious anticipation of
'Every Dawn’s A Mountain'. The release date is set for 21 March.
A
few singles into the soon release of new album 'Blindness' (21
February), my mind has been made up: The Murder Capital steps into the
large postpunk shoes that its compatriots Fontaines DC have left at the ferry or airport when it moved to London. The Fall has that eclectic energy most
Irish and U.K. postpunk bands of the past years have. The Murder Capital
combines musical relentlessness with melody and unexpected moments that all
these bands have or had. The band masters dynamics perfectly in The Fall
before the lid is blown off completely by the band going full out.
From zero to hundred in a few seconds. Again, I have the impression that
the new album may be the band's best to date. We will soon know more.
A
new name on the blog cleopatrick is. The Canadian duo Luke Gruntz and
Ian Fraser are introduced as a rock duo. Well, this is not a jazz
standard, but Please at best is a ramshackle, indie rock song. Filled
with sounds and white noise over which the song unfolds. And in a very
interesting way at that. The duo released and album and an EP before its
upcoming album 'Fake Moon'. It all passed me by, but that may have been a
shame based on what I'm hearing today. Every time I listen to Please, another detail
presents itself. There is a drums and an acoustic guitar, which I will
present as the basis of Please. But it's only where the aural adventure starts.
There are sounds and noises everywhere and sounds that can be a keyboard
or a weirdly treated guitar, I simply can't tell. It is all the more
intriguing.
The title track of the upcoming album is released as third single. It starts with a very characteristic mouth harp and the didgeridoo Stephanie Widmer plays in Cari Cari. It is the first step into a very psychedelic track sung mostly by Alexander Kock. Years and years ago I read a book about a trip around the sun. I could feel the heat of the almost melting rocket ship while reading. Of course, all turned out all. So does this single. Cari Cari shows a different side of itself. Where I doubted the previous single somewhat, I have no doubts here. One More Trip Around The Sun is a trip of a song. It is totally psychedelic, as only hippies in the 60s could foresee. The characteristic riffing of Kock is here but without the layers of reverb and echo over it. The atmospherics added to this song do it all. How to recreate this live, I have no idea. On record I love it.
Josua Finsel has a decades long history in music. From a rocker to bluegrass, but now he releases a single as a solo folk artist. The Drought is lofted off 'No Honey' that was released this week. The single is almost tempoless. A number 1 hit in tortoise country The Drought is. It has so much atmosphere though and has so many layers of instruments to enjoy. He sings the song with his daughter Ada, who provides the song with a level of vulnerability that makes me want to protect The Drought. The combination of Joshua Finsel's rough voice and Ada Finsel's clear voice makes the song very special. Musically the song is extremely rich, with a host of instruments and a harmonica taking an occasional lead. Together with producer D Patrick Finsel has created a beautiful song that is very much worthwhile getting to know.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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