Posts
Shellfish. Celeste Corsano
The fifth single in a row by Celeste Corsano shows her on the one hand at her most Kate Bush to date but on the other adds a rock element that reminds me of hearing 'James And The Cold Gun' for the first time. Without rocking that hard. Shellfish has a how do you sleep at night theme, playing with the words shellfish and selfish. The song is perfectly balanced with the tight verse, versus the dreamy chorus and the explosive second half. Over it all Celeste Corsano's voice roams, commanding the musicians as it were like a general commands his troops. Together they go for a peaceful, musical triumph. The artwork is by her brother Chris.
Step into a time machine and come out hearing Spill No Mo Wine. That is what I was thinking listening to the new single by Robin Ross & The Melodynes. The single was released only a few weeks ago and is brand new. The whole vibe and all is straight out of the late 1970s with bands like The B52s breaking ground with their totally new sort of music. The Pennsylvania band plays tight and presents an alternative pop power that sparkles. If anything, today it reminds me of the last album of the late Justine (Covault) and The Unclean's last album, 'The Signal Light'. Spill No Mo Wine has the exact same power and that little rough edge. My late father could have related to the title. Spilling alcoholic beverages was an abhorrent something to him.
A bit to my surprise there are no less than four The Bevis Frond reviewed by me in the past decade. With a new album, in fact two, coming up on 3 April, The Bevis Frond released the title track. It is a folk kind of track using some drones around which melodies are created. Singer Nick Saloman sings a melody that could be from the time of Henry VIII. In a way that goes for the melody as well and even all of the instruments used were around then, albeit in a more primitive version. The result is a song that fits in with a long tradition of U.K. folk, yet is different enough to have its own voice. A surprising and intriguing song. The second album is called 'Horrorful Offal' by the way.
A maxi single that adds to the 'Bots' experience. Lucas Mayo, aka Pickle Darling, adds three songs to his oeuvre, precluding perhaps a deluxe editions of his great album 'Bots'. The opening song is an alternate and shortened version of 'Human Bean'. We hear Mayo accompanied by instruments with strings and keys that are non electronic. Of course he masks his voice with some device but the result is a soft, melancholy tune. By Pickle Darling's standards this song is stripped down to the bone, as all the electronics that determine a large part if his sound are gone. They return full force in 'Pinwheels'. Together with singer Anna McClellan he swerves in between the blips and soundscapes that make a melody anyway. The prize song however is song number 3, the alternate version of 'massive everything'. A latter day ballad if I ever heard one. The digital and analogue seem to blend effortlessly. The spirit of Sparklehorse and Mark Linkous is closer than ever. crumple zones is a nice addition to the album.
The Bernadette Maries from Brussels make their debut on this blog with its first single on the Géographie label. There seems to be no end to recent bands loving to play in the style of the glum music of the 1980s. Where at the time bands simply were mostly too gloomy (for me), these days there's always a ray of sunshine involved. Although The Bernadette Maries, Guy, Daria, Romain, and David, do their best to hide it, it is there in the way the two singers sing together. The light and the shade personified. The subtle keyboard notes under the dark distorted guitar solo, is a second one. Fans will find everything starting with The Cure and beyond in The Closer You Look, making the band interesting to explore further in 2026. It's working on its debut album, so we have to be patient.
More darkness with Heading For The Moon with which Golden Hours makes its debut on WoNoBlog. The entrance the single makes is of the majestic kind. Slow, dark, brooding, mysterious, beautiful. In fact, the rest of the single never bests the intro. It is good but not that good. With members having served in all sorts of bands and genres, Golden Hours is working towards the release of its second album, 'Beyond Wires', out on 6 February. Heading For The Moon is a song that sounds like lava sliding down a mountain, slowly, surely, not stopped by anything, It seems just as fluid, yet solid. A mountain of sound from which elements escape, creating a majestic feeling of grandeur.
Chicago punkers Horace Pinker may have eight albums under its belt, this is the first time the band finds itself on this blog. In the past days I've listened several times to the latest album 'Now And The Future' that was released recently. As I have to start focusing on end of year stuff and 2026 albums, let me make amends by putting the spotlight on single Three Against Me. With its 2.15 minutes it is a classical punkrock track as they used to and still make them in the U.S. All the energy goes into these two minutes plus, while at the same time the melody is not forgotten, resulting in a strong punk song. The whole album is filled with great songs like this.
From midnight Christmas to midnight of the new year in this country a lot revolves around the Top 2000 on Radio 2, from whatever is on number 2000 right up to almost always 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Somewhere in between all the hits of Guns 'N' Roses will come by. All from the band's first three albums. Then Izzy Stradling left the band and that sealed it's musical fate. The punk cover album apart, it took 15 years for a new album the whole world listened to once and 17 years later there is Nothin'. According to Wikipedia this is a reworked leftover from the 'Chinese Democracy' sessions at that. The electric piano at the start turned me off at first. Once the guitars and fat drums kicked in, the song isn't half that bad. Just don't start comparing Nothin' to 'You Could Be Mine' or 'Sweet Child Of Mine'. A new world tour is announced for 2026.
The first minute of You Are The Jet did not convince me. It seemed too safe for me, too dependent on all that came before it, without adding that extra to reel an older and more experienced listener in. Over the whole single You Are The Jet does become stronger and worthy of a spot in this post. Especially from the "I was going nowhere" section onwards. The song gets the powerpop injection it needs to stand out. At these moments Marc Valentine gets close to Glasgow's Garlands, to name a band in the same musical niche in the U.K. Overall, the song misses that little extra that makes it truly sparkle. Marc Valentine comes close but needs one extra step to truly stand out. Based on what I'm hearing on a large part of You Are The Jet that ought to be an option.
The second song by Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows on this blog makes this year go out with a bang. We are moving into metal territory. The single may have a few psychedelic details and they are not hard to spot, the part that stands out most, are the heavy sounding riffs. many a metal band would be proud of, leaving out the sprinkles of psychedelia. Harlon's voice is disguised by an effect giving the song an eerie atmosphere. Venomous is a little scary at that. The title is not a fun one either of course. Everything venomous is dangerous and gets a skull with two bones as a warning. I will not go that far for this song but a warning to the faint of ears is in place.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
No comments:
Post a Comment