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Husband & Wife feat. Owen Pallett. Nick & June
What is it I'm listening to? Husband & Wife feels like a road trip through the history of rock itself. I want you to explore that trip for yourself, as it will be far more fun should I present it all to you. The result is a song that partly is superb, while at times it also seems to be struggling a little to make it truly flow. What is a success is how the song builds itself up and up towards a grand finale. I had never heard of Nick & June as far as I know. Nick & June are from Berlin but have worked with and recorded in the U.S.A. Arrangers associated with The National and members from others bands can be heard on the album. 'New Year's Face' will be released on our St. Nicholas day. If this single is anything to go on, it will be an epic album. That description is only slightly less modest. The bio speaks of a opus magnum no less.
Nathalie Miller is a new name on the blog. With kansas she has released a serious pop song that comes close to a ballad. The tempo is fairly slow, the mood and lyrics are best described as reflective. To me this means that Miller is not taking the easy way out. Now I'm not a connaisseur of modern pop, as it somehow all passes me by. It may be that kansas is the epitome of the sign of the time. For me the song is on the fringe of my musical tastes. What attracts me is the way she sings, the inventive harmony vocals that constantly meander throughout the song and the way some of the instruments are used in this same, shimmering way. As a whole, kansas sounds simply great. Should you want to hear more. Nathalie Miller has released her EP 'like you used to' a few days ago.
And yet another new name. The Quality of Mercury is a band from Pennsylvania. If you listen to Heaven's Gate for the first time, you will automatically think 'band'. It isn't. The Quality of Mercury is the solo project of Jeremiah Rouse. Everything you hear has been conceived and played by Rouse himself. In that he's not unique of course. It does give pause to think what a great musical ear he must have to arrange and play everything himself while remaining critical on himself at the same time. Heaven's Gate is rock like they used to make them with layers upon layers of guitars creating a wall of sound with behind it all a huge drum and a bass part. All kinds of guitars and keys meander in and out of the sound to crawl back again later on. It takes almost 80 seconds before Rouse adds his voice to the whole. There is an album coming up, 'Voyager', to be released on 24 October. It is the follow up of 'Transmission', The Quality of Mercury's debut album from 2017.
Strawberry Alarm Clock? Wasn't this a band on the 'Nuggets' box set I bought somewhere in the 1990s? I have to look it up, as there were so many bands with extremely trippy names on there. Whichever way, I'm listening to the band's first new release in decades. It is part of a special Halloween album Big Stir Records releases this month containing all songs about the primarily American festive activity. It is spreading though into our neighbourhood with the many U.S. expats / immigrants living here. Monsters is a far from scary song though. It slowly progresses without any exclamation marks. The quality is there though. This band knows how to arrange a song and adorn it with some nice harmony vocals. At best it is the singer who puts some fear into his way of singing. Everyone in the band is trying to soothe him as much as possible. And, okay, the guitar solo is the monster inside trying to come out. The band and harmony singers come to the rescue immediately. Nice song. Do catch the album, 'CHILLING, THRILLING HOOKS AND HAUNTED HARMONIES'.
"I try not to fuck it up", is the central lyric line in Peg Leg and, rest assured, Speedfossil does not fuck it up here. It is one of those that make me wonder how it is possible to come up with another great song in a tradition that was started by The Kinks in the mid-sixties and can be followed down the decades by a long line of bands right up to Speedfossil's new single, announcing its anthology album 'Time Flies: 10 Years of Speedfossil'. Look at the video and you'll notice that the band's members have been around for at least a lot of their predecessors career. In Peg Leg one of the guitars has this nice wobbly effect before things get very concrete once again. With Peg Leg the band makes its statement showing how good it is while at the same time showering some honours on its heroes of the past. The combination works in all ways.
With Tanana, Portugal. The Man delivers a true hybrid song with pop and alternative balladry. The Portland, Oregon based band is working towards the release of its upcoming album 'Shish', that will hit the shelves on 7 November. Tanana is a slow moving song that gives away its secrets slowly but surely. From a hesitant intro and first verse, the song explodes, in a moderate way, into the chorus. Things are toned down again for the second verse, but listen to how the bass moves into the mix and that funky guitar in the corner of the mix. All throughout Tanana the band manages to surprise with the next move. By releasing this single as a double a-side, the band is able to show its other side in one go. Mush is an uptempo alternative rocker, that is almost straightforward. Almost, because the band again throws in a few surprises in between all the rocking going on. Three songs into 'Shish', it seems things cannot go really wrong with the album.
We move over to Italy once again for another dirty sounding alternative rock band. Keep It Cool sounds as if it was recorded in a sewer in full operation. The sound is as dirty as its surroundings. There is zero tolerance for subtleties in Keep It Cool. Cleanliness has been thrown out the window with the bathwater. I have no idea what Bee Bee Sea is, as I only this single to go by. It is all about excitement and energy. It all sounds as if Keep It Cool was recorded with one mike in a strategic point in the room, so that everything going on could be caught more or less in a balanced way. The VU meters were in deep red for the whole time distorting everything in the recording. If you like this sort of unpolished energy, keep a lookout for the upcoming album, 'Stanzini Can Be Alright'.
Glasgow's Garlands are a regular on this blog and especially the weekly singles post section. Every few months there is a new single and the latest is called French Exit. At heart this song is another Britpop influenced song with close ties into the influences of the best Britpop bands of the past. What sets it a apart from many other Garlands songs, is the synth that plays a riff all throughout the song, dominating the sound. It pushes away some of the nice details that are in there as well. The double tracked vocal in the verses work really well, just like some of the guitar work in the chord changes and lead lines, all behind that synth. (I have a little doubt if it isn't a guitar anyway with some weird effect on it.) French Exit may not be the best song I've heard over the years by Garlands, but just like always it is a more than welcome addition to my Garlands collection.
This month The Hackensaw Boys from Charlotte, Virginia are touring the country with the 20th anniversary of the album 'Love What You Do'. Thomas Olivier, producer of Hammer and member of Leadbeaters is also a member of The Hackensaw Boys when they play over here. Luckily we have Timo de Jong and Leadbeaters for the rest of the year. The second single from the upcoming album 'The Ballad Of Too Much Glitter' shows exactly how much fun the collaboration of singer-songwriter De Jong and the Dutch bluegrass band Leadbeaters will be. Timo de Jong has this bronzed voice under which all other type of voices can be heard in that twangy Americana way that makes Bluegrass a genre of its own. The music fits the bill of course with violin, banjo, acoustic guitars, washboard, etc. And if you listen carefully, an electric guitar as well. What profanity, a purist would say. I don't, this single is great fun.
The Gypsy Moths return to the blog with an almost powerpop single. Almost, because the song does not have the full power of a powerpop song. It comes close though and has this great feel to it. Everything from the 1960s pop, to country and all mixes between the two from the previous decades can be heard in Tell Me She's Alright. The instrument that steals the limelight on the single is the piano. Dave Buckley's subtle notes manage to catch my ears in a special way. Of course, there are some very nice guitar parts as well, just like the vocal melody, but the piano gives the song its relaxed vibe. In two weeks album 'Five By Five By Four' is released with a party in Boston. A bit far away for me, but then I have tickets for La Luz that evening.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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