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Cryptic Friend. The Laissez Fairs
How many songs can pretend to be from circa 1967 in a successful and convincing way? Who can tell. With Cryptic Friend Las Vegas' The Laissez Fairs shows that one more song is no problem to digest at all. You will hear all the sounds you expect to hear, combined in a way that makes for a song you just want to listen to, despite that the protagonist's female friend "never listens to a word I say". The rock connoisseurs of the era will hear a slight resemblance to The Troggs' 'With A Girl Like You'. With singer John Fallon having a Reg Presley's edge to his voice as well. Fun is fun and The Laissez Fairs delivers it in spades in its latest single.
I'd almost say that it's 1960s week, were it not that the order of presentation of this post is purely coincidental. Lightheaded, that formed in New Jersey in 2017, consists of the duo Cynthia Rittenbach and Stephen Stec. The duo is on route to the release of its debut album 'Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming' on 27 June. I do not know what the album sounds like but Same Drop is a 1960s styled folkpop song. Even Jefferson Airplane sounded a little like this on its debut album 'Takes Off'. Mostly sung by Cynthia Rittenbach, Same Drop does have a distinctive flavour of girl pop groups like The Shangri Las as well. Slightly melancholy, yet distinctly pop music. It is possible to sound like 1960-something with ease today and it makes for pleasant listening as well.
With On And On by NYC trio Jeanines there's even more nostalgic sounds from a time long gone. This single is far more up tempo though, with a rhythm guitar that is more distinctive than was possible in the 1960s. The flavour is undeniably sixties pop though. Alicia Jeanine - vocals, guitar, bass, violin, Jed Smith - vocals, guitar, bass, drums and Maggie Gaster - vocals, bass, use their voices to create a vocal melody and harmonies that sound so familiar, as if I know them since forever, while being totally new at the same time. Jeanines is a label mate of Lightheaded. Their albums are released on the same date and they will tour the U.K.together extensively in July. 'How Long Can It Last' the album is called and if its as much fun as On And On, it's a must listen.
Time flies, that's for sure. It shows as the last song by Garlands on the blog was over one year ago. The Glaswegian trio is back with a tremendously poppy rock song that will please many an ear that it is allowed to enter. As always the approach is direct, straightforward. The band lays down a firm foundation over which the melody can take the lead and additional melodies can play themselves out. You will discover nice guitar overdubs, with a pleasant effect on the sound. Vocal harmonies are another great addition to the song. Of course, there's a nice guitar solo, in fact there are two at the same time going on. With Go It Alone Garlands shows again that it's a band that deserves more attention than it's getting. I'm still a fan, for many years now.
Also Laurel is a song filled with musical nostalgia but not from the 1960s. This is more a show tune. Think on the one hand something like Barry Manilow's 'Copacabana' but on the other hand a band like Swing Out Sister from the 1980s. The Far Out has a just as nice singer and horns in abundance. The Far Out is totally different from I'm used to coming out of Boston, but not less pleasant to listen to. Laurel has a lush arrangement that makes for very pleasant listening. The band has one serious issue to face. With a song like Laurel, it's going to be very hard to rest on its laurel, as I can imagine that many people will want to hear this song, and much more from where this came from. Singer Olivia Lowe leads the way alright, but listen to that keys and the horns arrangement all backed by almost frivolous bass and drums. Laurel ought to be a hit, today and not in 1985 or before.
Ah, a song that puts the reviewer on the wrong foot. Always a nice surprise. Just Like A Flower starts out as a ballad with dreamy vocals and a guitar sound that resembles some kind of horn, calling out through the fog. A silence that lasts pretty long, gives the impression to I have listened to a very short, soft song. Then a drum fill and off goes Winter and starts to rock no little. Alternative rock from the early 90s, Boston region I'd say. Who is Winter? As far as I can tell it is a new name on this blog. Winter is Samira Winter who is about to release her second album called 'Adult Romantix' on 22 August. After the soft and slow opening Just Like A Flower simply explodes into a great alternative rock song. After having grown up in Brazil, Ms. Winter moved to Boston, before relocating to L.A. over ten years ago. Musically, the link with Boston was already clear to me. The other influences may become apparent on 'Adult Romantix'. We'll know after the holidays.
No less than five years ago Smut debuted on this blog. Another single finds its way to a single's post. Smut, the Chicago band comprised of vocalist/lyricist Tay Roebuck, guitarist Andie Min, bassist John Steiner, guitarist Sam Ruschman, and drummer Aidan O’Connor, shows once again it is able to rock in an alternative way. The contrast between the tough playing band and the dreamy vocals of Tay Roebuck are very much apparent on Touch And Go. Again, I can write that there is a nostalgic streak in this song. The 90s are all over the song. Veruca Salt, Belly, think these kind of female fronted bands and you'll get the drift. Smut makes its point quite confidently here. Touch And Go does everything right. Taken from the album 'Tomorrow Comes Crashing' that is also released on 27 June.
Karly Hartzman, MJ Lenderman, Xandy Chelmis, Alan Miller, and Ethan Baechtold or Wednesday returns to this blog with a song that shares its title with the b-side of my first Elton John single, 'Crocodile Rock'. Anyone who was derailed by one of the songs on 'Rat Saw God' will be surprised to hear the pure country played on Elderberry Wine and will fear what lies in wait on the upcoming album. The new single is a song that is sweet and soothing. A pedal steel guitar takes the lead role with Karly Hartzman's soft sounding voice. Although the song has a tough side in its sound, the atmosphere is pure country music. Hartman has as much as a tear in her voice as it allows it to have. I'm pleased with the new single alright.
And now for something completely different. Sorgjäl is a ten minute long song or composition by Massimo Silverio composed with Manuel Volpe and Nicholas Remondino. He sings in a local mountain language called Carnic, an ancient, mountainous variant of the Friulian language, in the north-east of Italy. Listening I hear some Italian and many things that don't land recognisable on my ears. What to expect when you delve into the ten minutes? A mix of modern and old. There's clearly an ancient folk element in the composition but also something of the modern classic and of droning music. At the beginning modern drums are created with electronic sounds around is, all accompanying a cello (I think). It takes quite some time before Silverio starts singing with a dreamy, husky voice. By then the atmosphere has been set and I'm drawn well into the song. Later this year there will be an album.
And now it's time for some nice and straightforward punkrock from Italy. Mad Dogs kicks its new single off with a nice long guitar intro. Two guitars play a tough rhythm supported by the rhythm section and then the lead guitar comes in with a short burst of notes that sets No More Lies on fire immediately. That fire is not put out before it's all played out and over. The lead guitar comes in with short, melodic bursts all throughout the song. The wah wah solo is really, really sweet. And that's not all because the band presents a keyboard solo as well before the guitar takes over once again. Mad Dogs is Marco Cipolletti - guitar, vocals, Luca Zenobi - guitar, Simone Mosciatti - bass and Giacomo Zepponi - drums. Together they cook a storm that is just so nice. Album 'The Future Is Now' will be released on 5 September.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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