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There Was You. Teenage Fanclub
I have Teenage Fanclub to thank that I discovered Big Star in 1993. Following the release of 'Thirteen', the references to the legendary Memphis band were all over the place (and with The Posies records), so I caught up and never looked back. Teenage Fanclub went out of sight for a while though, despite the fact you can find two albums on this blog and a single from six years ago. There Was You is a pure pop single with some West Coast overtones from long ago. If the song reminds me of anything, it is America and its songs like 'A Horse With No Name' and 'Sister Golden Hair'. There Was You has that some tone of sweetness written all over it and the acoustic sound. To make it even better it has that bitter edge to it, making the sweet even taste better. The Scottish band's new album, 'Do Not Dare To Dream', is out on 9 October.
I'll be honest, I had expected to switch this song off within a few seconds. Jefferson Starship, with founding member David Freiberg and the drummer from the fourth generation? How can this iteration even carry the name? And then Jetpack hit me. It is a very American powerpop/rock song, with some hints at the style Paul Kantner got stuck in from the 1980s onwards, i.e. everyone singing together. Yet, this song is huge and is good. Everything and everybody is throwing punch after punch, until the listener is floored in the most positive sense of the word. Nothing and one held back and singer Cathy Richardson has a powerhouse of a voice. She doesn't have to overdo anything to lay down this performance. I expected nothing and got the best new Jefferson Starship song since 'Out Of Control'. Now who could have expected that?
O.K. How fast can a human being play music? Can a drummer drum this intensely and keep up/time? Maybe faster that Hyper Minds' members do on Sink Or Swim, but much faster? I doubt it. From the get go the band goes at it at full speed. It's like my chief at my first ever job said at 08.30 AM: "We start as fast as we can and from there only go faster". It often felt like it; I have never been fitter since. Back to Sink Or Swim. Hyper Minds is an L.A. punk band that formed in 2024 and recently signed with the DC-Jam label. This is its second single. And it comes with a surprise, because the tempo and intensity is brought down, allowing everyone to wind down a little, including myself. In a moshpit things can get more intense though, as the accents allow a lot of slamming, or so I imagine sitting here writing in my chair at home. When the tempo goes back to the original speed, it is luctor et emergo indeed.
More punk? Yes! The Hellflowers play a more punkrock style in the vein of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Expect some garagerock influences and a great pop flow in the vocal melody. All together, I'd opt to mention Social Distortion as a main influence. The Hellflowers can be found on this blog with two singles in 2025, released on Rum Bar. The band appears to have moved on on route to its album 'Haunted', planned for February next year. Wild Ones is a song that rocks from beginning to end. It has a great opening riff, after which singer Christina Eskew, with her great voice for rock songs, makes it very clear that this band is not going to bend, break or change for anyone. "We are the wild ones". Message understood and as far as I'm concerned, as long as The Hellflowers delivers like it does with Wild Ones, I'm going to make the band stick to its promise. What a single!
Next up, some symphonic rock in a modernised Marillion style. STEAK formed in London in 2012 and released three albums so far. Infinite is the first sign from album number 4, 'STEAK' ( 9 October). The song starts out in a mesmerising, dreamy way. It is clear the band works towards a climax, but it gives you a run for your money before a heavy chord is played on an electric guitar. Even that is more atmosphere than rock. Slowly but surely the listener is led to the moment that everyone is finally allowed to go full out. Only singer Kippa remains his tranquil self. No one else is holding back on Infinite from that moment onwards. It leads to a song of the epic kind that clocks in just under six minutes. It's worth your while to undergo the musical adventure STEAK takes you on.
And back to punkrock. I'm sure that regular viewers of this weekly singles post will have gotten the idea that punk is what the clock strikes on a daily basis here. Besides never getting that past the love of my life, it is far from the truth. I seldom enjoy punk by the album, a few exceptions aside, but by the song or in this case singles. Rocketsuit Rogue is the new band of former Zebrahead frontman Matty Lewis. With Watch The World Just Fall Apart he presents the full picture. The energy, the noise, the pace, the Green Day light and shade, it's all there. What I like the most is the great melody and that whoa-oa style singing/shouting in between. I remember hearing that consciously for the first time when an Australian punk band was doing a soundcheck in the Friday dive where I regularly went for an after Friday's work beer. (And bought a ticket fot the show. Don't ask me what the band was called. Great show though.) I'm sure a whole Rocketsuit Rogue album will be a bit too much for me, but Watch The World Just Fall Apart is simply great.
In punk/garage rock there are many different styles and approaches. With Heather and The Jerk it is a female voice, sounding rather innocent compared to the noise behind the singer. With 1.39 minutes all is already over and we have heard the world hello more than enough, to understand the singer is calling out for the attention of someone with the line "I'm so dumb and your so bright". Admittedly, one of the more original pick up lines I've ever heard. Singer Heather Sawyer sounds like a fourteen year old in the middle of a teenage drama, not unlike 'Leader Of The Pack'. Reading in how many bands she's already played in either as singer or as a drummer, my guess is she'll be several years older. The music is a mix of rock and roll, garage and punk rock, that will get you excited. Don't expect any high rolling recording technique. Hello is all about bringing across the energy and the fun of this music. Heather and the Jerk has succeeded with flying colours.
The Thousand Yard Stare EP. Sam Powers
The Laissez Fairs can be found on this blog since 2022. The best title so far is 'Singing Inside Your Head' and with the songs on the 5 Believers EP, they may well stand accused of causing me doing just that with these new songs. The EP kicks of with 'Pacific Coast'. The 1960s psychedelia is there, of course. The band adds a layer of dreaminess that makes it whole different sort of beast. It provides a touch of innocence the members of The Laissez Fairs on the basis of their age can never have any more. Too much has happened in their lives for that. And yet, 'Pacific Coast' sounds convincing enough. 'Treating Me Cold' is like The Troggs on a good day, like 'With A Girl Like You' or 'Marbles And Some Gum'. The song rocks but holds back, as not everything can be as wild as 'Wild Thing'. Enter 'Smashing Windows' and there that wildness is. If you hadn't woken up yet, 'Smashing Windows will do the trick. The guitars are stacked just right, while there is that little organ in the background adding just the right flavour to the song. There are two more songs that make sure that this EP keeps to quality level the first three have set. Joe Lawless: vocals, guitar, piano, organ, sleigh bells, tambourine, Moog, John Fallon: vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitars, bass, Cromm Fallon: bass guitar, Glockenspiel, Tone DeCorte: drums and Dale Gilbert: backing vocal, tambourine are on a roll on 5 Believers, believe you me.
Blondshell, a.k.a. Sabrina Teitelbaum, returns to this blog with her new single Fur Elise. It is a song in the style of what made a band like Live big in the 1990s. Showing vulnerability through strength, something like that. Fur Elise is a post-grunge song that kicked out the darkness bands like Creed and Staind always carried with them. Blondshell adds not only her femininity to the song but also plays with the light and shade. Where the song is soft, she sings in a darker register, letting her voice and volume go up when the band is let loose. Making her voice far more prominent by way of this vocal use. Behind her the lead guitar plays a nice melody, while the rest of the band lays a firm foundation to play and sing over. There's an album on the way. 'Violins' will be released on 25 September. As a funny aside, I hear an American singer sing Fur Elise, which is of course Ludwig von Beethoven's famous composition, but it is actually called 'Für Elise', i.e. for Elise. All of a sudden I have a very furry Elise in my mind's eye.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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