The Rush. Editors
How many crossroads are there in the world that draws hoards of tourists? I can think of two. The one on Abbey Road in London I still have to visit. The other is a part of the video to The Rush. Yesterday I happened to read about bands that never topped their debut album and 'The Back Room' was used as an example. I beg to differ, as I never truly got into that album. The Rush is another example of why that is. Editors has left teenangst and the resulting doom and gloom behind it and has let in some light into its music. The Rush feels totally alive and sparkling. It may not be Editors' best song ever, but its great to listen to and makes the listener feel as alive as the song is. Album 'Surface, Echo & Sound' will be released on 30 October.
When was it that I last heard a new The Jayhawks song? 2003 or around 2010? I don't know. Neither when I played an album for the last time? It may be a long time ago. All this did not stop me from listening to a new single from the upcoming album 'Sanctuary Park' (28 August). It all sounds so pleasantly familiar immediately. Yes, pleasant is the right word. American Midnight is an up tempo song, a mild rocker is the description that fits best. The singing between Gary Louris and Karen Grotberg still works. Things become uncanny when I realise that the band entered my life in 1993 with a single that still plays inside my head regularly, 'Take Me With You (When You Go)'. That is 33 years ago. The band itself formed 40 years ago and is still capable of creating a strong song like American Midnight. Perhaps it's time to listen to a new The Jayhawks album once again after all.
Did I write 1993 in the above post, here's 1996 when 'Novocane For The Soul' came into my life and the album 'Beautiful Freak'. Just like with The Jayhawks, I missed several albums of Eels through the past 30 years. That doesn't stop me from listening to a new single and I'm On Standby is proof that a song can be seemingly simple, yet perfect and beautiful(ly arranged). E's voice is what it is and suits this single just right. I can hear him performing I'm On Standby with just an acoustic guitar within my head. And then listen to all the subtle details that come by in this single. The organ is totally defining. Subtle strings add to the beauty of it all. On the face of things there seems not to be happening a lot. Open your ears and you'll be amazed. Don't forget to really open your ears at the end. A beautiful single I'm On Standby is.
British Birds is a DYI, brother-sister band consisting of Bobby and Emma Townson with Dominic Lawson on drums and James Robinson on bass. On route to their third album, 'Murmurate, Oscillate', to be released on 16 October, the band releases this sort of time machine of a single that hops from year to year scoping up elements of music. The result is mix of XTC, The B-52s, and much, much more, caught in a flash of energy that is led by an oh so cool 'ooh-ooh' sang by Emma Townson. Come the chorus there's only one band left I can think of, Dogs Die In Hot Cars and then add the Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson quality of Emma's voice. Lie Down With Dogs, Stand Up With Fleas is a song that bounces in all sorts of directions but keeps the eye on the ball the whole time. British Birds manages to be as alternative as it is poppy in a very convincing way. "ooho ooh-ohoo, oohoo ooho-ooho" alright.
With Drop/See we go off to the darker and deeper side of music. The Machine is a Dutch stoner rock trio consisting of David Eering (guitar/vocals), Chris Both (bass) and Klaas Dijkstra (drums). For 20 years the band has been honing its craft and it shows on Drop/See, which is also the opening track of the upcoming 'Another Sun' album (2 October). The deep, dark riffs that drive the album, played on both guitar and bass, define the sound of Drop/See. The vocals are mixed in such a way that they are clearly only supporting the song. The big riffs take the main stage, accompanied by all sorts effects on the guitar. From there the melodies are explored by the guitar. Behind it all are the huge drums of Klaas Dijkstra. From past experience, I'd say that Masters of Reality are the best comparison. Yes, it's loud but if it's good as well, who cares.
There are artists that have come into my life, I even have a few of their records and yet, somehow they disappear as they have come once those albums move into the "collection". Jess Williamson is one of those artists, I realised when I was pointed to her new single, Goodbye To It All. Listening to it, I wondered, did she sound as country as this? My memory tells me, no, she didn't. Goodbye To It All has a country twang, caused mainly by the pedal steel guitar that weaves itself around the other instruments throughout the song. Ms. Williamson's voice sings a bit in a country way as well. Listening for the first time, I wondered whether I should write about the song, but decided in favour before the song played itself out. A little bit of country every once in a while doesn't do anyone any harm, and as far as I'm concerned there's no need to say goodbye to this song.
Sound Cove is a label that releases digital singles only. They include songs that founder Garret Vandermolen wants to release as a solo offering. Over the past few years I have written on the single releases of the label and Take It Back is no exception. It is one of those tracks that combine a good rock sound and riff with a great vocal melody. It has that driving rhythm that gives the impression that the song will go on forever, something the listener wants it to do. Although the guitars are the driving force, a warm B3 Hammond underscores the warmth the rock song contains as well. Musically, Take It Back combines the melodic side of 70s rock, e.g. Uriah Heep's 'Easy Living' with 90s alternative rock like Buffalo Tom. It is a combination that really works out well for Garret Vandermolen.
1972, man that is long ago by now. Do I want to go back to it? No, thank you. Singer Ray Carmen of Librarians With Hickeys does though. The band presents a single that is just as nostalgic sounding as The Connells' '74/'75'. 1972 is just a little faster and janglier. The Ohio band returns to these pages with a single that shows how good it is in music that seems to come from the past but is sounding new and fresh. There are so many bands and artists that have returned to music and are able to come up with great sounding songs, that will remain more or less in the shadow of the past, but can compete easily with what came before. Librarians With Hickeys is such a band. We have to wait to somewhere next year though before being able to hear the upcoming album.
"How far back can a band put the hands of the clock? In the case of The Lemon Drop Gang it is about sixty years", I wrote in January of this year introducing the band's single 'My Mind's Got A Mind Of It's Own'. There's no need to change the opening lines for the three songs (one is an instrumental pedal steel version of opening track 'Wreckless Eyeballs') on this EP. Two songs that can't be much further apart though. 'Wreckless Eyeball' is a garagerock country song. Dirty, sleazy but country nonetheless. Steph O'Halloran sings as if she drags her voice down the mud up and down the street. The guitar is just as dirty. The pedal steel does the trick as do the backing vocals. The solo they play together is the icing on the cake. I can only write that I really like what I'm hearing. The same goes for the third and title song of the EP. 'Comin' To Get Him' is a garage rocker like they used to make them. The fuzz pedal on the guitar is cranked up to the max it seems. No matter how 60s the track sounds, The Lemon Drop Gang puts itself on the same level as modern day, Australian punkers Amyl & the Sniffers. That amount of energy comes from the digits playing in my ears right now. The two songs may be uncannily different, on this EP they work like a miracle from hell.
I'll admit, it is not easy to write an original review on another punkrock single, that sort of sounds like they all do and yet is good. Tacoma's Let Me Downs do everything right on Ellen C. It has the energy, the tightness, the melody, the power, the breaks and above all a chorus to shout along to. So, does Ellen C. need an original review? No, because writing that a song is good at times is enough. So, let me repeat, Ellen C. is a great punkrock single, in the style that is around for over 30 years and never seems to tire when played right. Ellen C. by Let Me Downs offers just that.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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