Beyond Wires. Golden Hours

Today we present a little more darkness. Golden Hours obviously was inspired by gothrockers from the 80s, including tie-ins to bands like New Order and The Cult, while adding a lighter sounding guitar that lets light into Beyond Wires regularly. The mix works extremely well. It even leads to songs that are quite danceable, at least at the time that I frequneted dance evenings a long time ago and "the bats", Robert Smith hair, dark clothes, shoegazing, mixed with us dancers with less extreme if not exclusive, dance appetites.

Golden Hours only debuted on this blog late December in the singles section and I realise to know nothing about the band. Beyond Wires is the band's second album, yet we are not focusing on new kids on the block. The members have histories in bands like "Gang of Four, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Tricky, The Fuzztones, and more", to quote the bio. That is extremely diverse. From this wide mix comes Golden Hours, a band with many different sides to its goth. Of the members, based in a few European capitals, Hákon Aõalsteinsson, Wim Janssens, Tobias Humble and Rodrigo Fuentealba Palavacino, the first two are responsible for the vocals. Of course, you will be able to hear the difference, but both sing from that starting point of this band: goth.

It is all happening around the voices that make the band far more attractive for a listener wanting to listen to more than just darkness. That may lead to the loss of "bats", but to be honest, I haven't seen many of them since the summer of 1987. Why that was, is a totally different story, but let me suffice to write that it was in that summer our then crown prince, now king, entered Leiden's university and elite student club and how that affected the membership and outlook of all the other student clubs.

Promo photo

Personally, I have always liked the mix in music. Slowly but surely I was leaving behind my 1970s heroes. No, that is wrong. I started to add bands to the roster, but mostly singles. At the time there were very little albums that impressed me as a whole. My body, dancing, was won over first before my brain, listening. I learned to dance, to let go and that was possible with 'A Forest' or 'Pale Shelter' and 'Burning Down The House (live)'.. etc.

Beyond Wires brings elements from that era but that is only part of the story. It is the singing that put me on the goth track. When listening deeper, I started to notice all the other elements. This band allows a lot of light in, through the sound of the guitars, that have a nice reverb to it. Also, there can be a different shade of darkness with New Order synths woven through or underneath the fabric of a song.

When listening to 'Heading For The Moon', I wondered whether I would like a whole album by Golden Hours. That questions has been answered with a wholehearted yes.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Beyond Wires here:

https://goldenhours1.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-wires 

New Year's Face. Nick & June

People reading all posts and have a good memory will have encountered duo Nick & June in the weekly singles section on this blog. For them it may not come as a surprise to find the album here as well. With a mix of a few musical styles they have produced a very attractive album to listen to.

The story behind the album is not an every day average one. The duo were partners, broke up and decided to create a follow up record to their EP 'Beach Baby, Baby'. The result is an album that is dreamy, nostalgic in sound and full of reverb. They worked with producer Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Sharon van Etten). The duo debuted in 2013 with 'Flavor & Sin'.

Despite what my ears are telling me, Nick (Wolff) and June (Suzie-Lou Kraft) are a German duo based in Berlin. There is a slight resemblance with Vienna Duo Cari Cari in the way they alternate the lead singing, musically, I would say The National comes closest. Nick & June is softer though, also because of how the tone of the two voices compare to Matt Berninger's bariton.

Promo photo

What New Year's Face does to me, is put me in a relaxed mood. My ears just want to listen to the songs and not do much else. (This review is not exactly going anywhere because of it.) The effect is near instant, as the mood is laid down right at the start with the title song that opens the album. The the first line of the lyrics does raise questions: "In my head there are pockets, big like rocket ships from the eighties". What to make of that? It is not like the next sentence helps here. The music has that subtle vibe with something like a vibraphone playing a few lead notes in a very slow way and makes me forget my questions immediately.

'New Year's Face' puts you into the right mood for the rest. You will find that the duo gets some assistance from Owen Pallett in the final song, 'Husband & Wife' and from The Antlers on '2017' and 'Pinker Moon'. Russian Red plays along on 'The Boy With The Jealous Eyes'. 'Husband & Wife' was the song that attracted me first. The song ends the album. It is a farewell, in line with the whole album, but with a lot of power, making you want to hear more immediately.

To be honest, New Year's Face is not an extraordinary album. But, it is an album that delivers what it promises right at the start and puts you in a great, relaxed mood. That is worth more than just a little praise.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order New Year's Face here:

https://nickandjune.bandcamp.com/album/new-years-face 

Oase. Weite

It is not often, that I run out of time, but today is one of them. Yesterday I listened to Oase and was impressed. This is such a beautiful, instrumental album. Just like a recent one ('III. Neànder') also from Germany. Oase has such beautiful melodies that meander through the compositions. Ear-soothing is the made-up but right word for the band's music. I was totally surprised, because usually I am not one for instrumental albums. This one comes with my personal recommendation, so please go and listen to it.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

III. Neànder

III, Neànder's thirds album, is nearly instrumental. I have a far harder time to find words for such an album, then when a band has a singer. Not that that I tend to study the lyrics always, there are far more melodies involved to follow and wrap my ears and mind around. Enter III.

First, let me state that III is a great rocking album. Perhaps Teutonic is a good description as the sound at times is massive. Metal influences are present, just like classic rock, postrock and symphonic/prog rock. There are even some ballad like sequences. Rock in its many guises is what goes around the clock from three unwards.

This starts with the sound of a mighty bass. It is very, very present as the cement of Neànder's sound. I'd be surprised if live my stomach would not vibrate to the sound. Underneath that sonic thunderstorm is the drumming of newby Flo Häuser. He's all over the place filling all the small holes his colleagues leave for him. The three guitarists Jan Korbach, Michael Zolkiewicz, and Patrick Zahn do the rest. From metal's absolute deep end to the high lead sounds. Besides that, there's someone playing a keyboard regularly as well and some strings.

What surprises me a lot, is that Neànder gets the melodies so easily in its songs. No matter how thick its sound becomes, after laying the foundation, a melody comes out in full bloom and I'm in. This is exceptional, believe me. It makes each song another adventure. Although loud, rocking sounds are the mainstay of III, there are very quiet interludes, that remind me of the acoustic guitar album of Atem (Jan Korbach).

I will not resort to comparisons but fans of all the different forms of rock I mentioned before will find points of reference and recognition on III. Which is quite okay, as no man is an island. Neànder holds places for its own favourites in rock music and then brings the members' individual skills to it's music and sound, with some quite surprising and melodic results. The Berlin based band rocks hard. That is the most important conclusion here.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order III here:

https://throughloverec.bandcamp.com/album/iii

In Clash With The Zeitgeist. Para Lia

Years fly by when one gets older and it surely doesn't get any slower I can assure you. At some point you will look into the mirror and think who is that grey-haired person? The good news is that new bands keep coming into my life and some turn into new favourites of which a new album is something to look forward to. Para Lia from Cottbus in Germany is one of these bands. With album number three the duo sets a giant step in its development.

On it's first two records 'Soap Bubble Dreams' (2019) and 'Gone With The Flow' (2020) Para Lia played, on average, loud, melodic rock with great guitar work by René Methner. Extremely nice but not always really, really special. With In Clash With The Zeitgeist, the duo decided to dive off the deep end and see where it would land. The result is an extremely varied rock album and more. Gone is that level of predictability, enter surprise and awe.

In the three years between the last album and this new one lay three years, including the two pandemic years. I have the impression that this period was also used to ripen the songs and allow for new ideas, some totally out of the box to enter the new music, all adding up to the experience In Clash With The Zeitgeist has become.

The album has a fully modern sound but if I had to compare it to anything, it may well be that had The Moody Blues (with Justin Hayward) started today, it would have sounded like this. Music going beyond what is trendy, certainly taking elements from it but adding anything that works in the context. So, yes, you will hear a nice, melodic rock riff and extremely tight rhythms, but also be alert for elements that have nothing to do with rock music. You will find several of these surprises that seem to clash with the zeitgeist in music. Usually critics call this the development of an artist or band. In my view daring to develop is another important prerequisite. Only when an artist or band dares to take a next step, change comes in. This is certainly the case for Para Lia.

Promo photo: Christine Schleiffenbaum

The second instance of change is the larger role of singer Cindy Methner. She is more prominent in the mix and adds added value to the songs with her, often, dreamy contributions, while taking the lead vocals on 'Will You Find Me'.

The intro of In Clash With The Zeitgeist may start a bit mysterious, the first songs are all fine and rich in sound rock songs. from the second half of the album things change. First the rock beast in Para Lia has to be tamed. First, René Methner shows what a fine guitarist he is. No half work, he really goes for it, presenting a dense sound with all sorts on effects on his sound.

It all comes together in a rich album, with some great songs on it. Para Lia, not in the least in the great rock song 'Already Came To Know', has set a giant step in its career, deserving to be heard by rock fans all over the world. Cottbus may become to small a town for Para Lia soon. If I'm correct the band may take to the stage soon. Looking forward!

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order In Clash With The Zeitgeist here:

https://paralia.bandcamp.com/album/in-clash-with-the-zeitgeist

Concrete Americana. ATEM

Concrete Americana is an instrumental album, built up around the acoustic guitar of Jan Korbach. Listening to it, images of the famous spaghetti westerns of and before my youth fill my head immediately. Were Sergio Leone to direct a new one today, he could no longer turn to Ennio Morricone but would wind up here instead.

ATEM is the solo project of Jan Korbach. Showcasing his mastery of the acoustic, country guitar, he touches on a few musical styles like the desert sounds of the movies but also (British) folk, all from a metal background. At heart Concrete Americana is a tough album. All accompanying the acoustic guitar play in a tough, firm and loud way. The music is mixed in such a way that the acoustic guitar(s), yes, there are overdubs, is (are) always in the foreground.

There are two forms of instrumental music, to me, that's the kind I cannot listen to and the kind I can. Concrete Americana is in the latter category. The songs could have had vocals. In fact at times I can even hear them in my mind. This is not about endless, complex noodling. ATEM plays lead melodies instead of singing. The result is a very melodic album, with that stark contrast between foreground and background. Not that this is a metal album, far from even. This is a tough instrumental yet ultimately melodic album.

The first song I heard, was the first single released a few months ago. 'The Pilgrim' convinced me immediately that I was listening to something special. The delicacy with which the lead guitar was played fitted in so well with the rest of the music, that I was totally intrigued. Add the imagery I already wrote about above and you know why I had high expectation of what was to come. I was lucky, as Jan Korbach allowed me to listen to the rest of the album and all I can say that it has become an album that is very dear to me already. One I can play anytime of the day and have.

Pressed hard, I would even then have a heard time to come with five all instrumental albums in my possession, if I put aside Mike Oldfield that is. And only 'Tubular Bells' would truly count as a favourite, I'd say. Now return to the previous lines and read my evaluation of Concrete Americana. It seems the album achieved the near impossible. Compliments all around.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Concrete Americana here:

https://throughloverec.bandcamp.com/album/concrete-americana

Die Nerven. Die Nerven

Die Nerven are not newcomers to this blog. You can find at least one album and one live show here. With its self-titled album the Stuttgart based band does go next level. Single 'Europa' already signified as much and at least seven of the ten new songs on 'Die Nerven' match that thought and expectation.

It is four years since 'Fake' was released. You could have found band members in others bands and projects over the past few years. So, it was time for the mothership to emerge. Kevin Kuhn (drums), Julian Knoth (bass, vocals) and Max Rieger (guitar, vocals) got back together and very likely have made their best album to date. The power, the inventiveness, the melodic prowess all go way beyond what they've create together before.

Looking at the record's artwork the association with a "black album" is easily made. The band refers to it in the accompanying bio for obvious reasons. Such information is all nice, it is about the music and this went down well with me before I truly noticed the artwork, which, yes, is strong and instantly noticeable.

The music is there, staring you straight in the face, something the dog is avoiding. The beast within Die Nerven is released alright, as the band cooks up multiple storms, all equally impressive and fearsome. All alternative rock in some form or other, with a band close to the boiling point all the time and boiling over regularly.

Let me start at the end, with '180 Grad'. It's almost a rock ballad, one with light sounding guitars and no load of soft (synthesised) strings. Slowly the song builds up towards "der Anfang vom Ende", the end of the beginning. The synths and strings do enter but not to produce a sugarcoated ballad but for estranging the listener from the beginning of the song. It ends with just a piano, just like the latest The Black Angels album, that plays some Beethoven. '180 Grad' reminds me of BAP's 'Kristallnach' and that's a huge compliment in my book.

'Die Nerven' has come full circle at the end of the album. Single 'Europa' opens 'Die Nerven' with an acoustic guitar, also a ballad, soft and modest. Enter some feedback and here we go. The calm before the storm only brought us to the top of a rollercoaster. Going down. Drums pounding, guitars shredding and bass supporting. 'Europa' sets the stage for things to come. 'Europa' is an epic song deserving a lot of attention. Without getting to the level of bombast Guns 'N' Roses produced, this is a song of 'November Rain' proportions, but so much more direct. 'Europa' has several different moods, I'm swinging the whole song long, and they all convince.

It is a starting point past more alternative rock songs or more punkrock songs and everything in between. 'Die Nerven' is an album that allows itself to be explored by the song and Die Nerven deliver in each song. There are so many highlights to discover! In 'Keine Bewegung' the melody prevails, in 'Alles Reguliert Sich Selbst' the anger and power, in 'Ein Influencer Weint Sich In Schlaf' the song itself. 'Die Nerven' is very well balanced.

With 'Die Nerven' Die Nerven truly surprised me. Sure, I liked the band but it was not special in my ears. This changed with its new album. Rock from Germany exists and 'Die Nerven' is another proof of point.

Wout de Natris

You can order 'Die Nerven' here:

https://mailorder.glitterhouse.com/album/5/rock--metal/5210925/die-nerven.html

Three albums, 06-07-2022

Here are some records that might have gotten away if I had not compiled them here. Some weird stuff among it. Mind, Magella's album is not out until 15 July.

Magella. Quiet Confusion

QOTSA, that is the easy way out, listening to Quiet Confusion's new album. The Italian trio certainly knows where Abraham found his mustard where stoner rock is concerned. So, expect a powerful album filled with a combination of rock, melody, stone solid riffs and great solos. Quiet Confusion does not make a song more difficult than strictly necessary, heightening the listening experience considerably.

Quiet Confusion started out in Verona, Italy, in 2009 and releases records since 2010. In the past decade the original band members left one after the other, leaving only guitarist and singer Antonio Cortina as original member. Together with bass player Roberto Panarotto and drummer Giovanni Franceschini Cortina sets out for a new era with the band, with the album Magella. The music is diverse, and ranges in intensity as well as in pop sensitivity. With the addition of a little psychedelia, some bluesrock and some desert rock into the different songs, the album is enriched because of the different points of musical view the band presents to its listeners. Magella is, within the confines of stoner rock, an album full of surprises.

Zwei. Flying Moon in Space

There are eclectic albums and there's Zwei, Flying Moon in Space's second album. The Leipzig, Germany based band, truly plays with all kinds of musical and music induced emotions. Zwei is all over the place and I have the hardest of times following the band at times. I can say many things of albums but seldom that an album brings me from heaven to hell and back a few times, all within the space of eight songs. The opening track is fantastic with a mix of punk singing, that female shouting kind of singing, with a kind of twisted dance rhythm that has a Teutonic feel to it. At the same time 'Traum Für Alle is super tight and messy. This style returns on Zwei, like in 'The Day The Sun Was Made', but Flying Moon in Space has no issue with going into other directions, including psychedelic, electronic dance tracks and some Kraftwerk hidden underneath the electronic beats. An imaginary stroboscope makes me close my eyes. Although the sound of 'Optimist' is hidden inside 'Traum Für Alle', the change is totally unexpected and even a little strange. The singing, brings the former song back a little, but does not save it. When all is said and done Zwei is more an, experimental, granted, dance album than a punkrock one. Having listened to the album several times now I am more confused than convinced, but have listened repeatedly. Unfortunately I still do not know what that tells me.

My Other People. TV Priest

Oh, irony. There's a review I wrote a few weeks ago and then found out the album was postponed into August. There's something on TV Priest in the review, no, I will not change it. And then I received the physical version of My Other People in my mailbox. Being the nice person I am, I give everything a chance and to my surprise got in the rhythm of the album. This was far from bad, far from irritating and even the singer started to go down real well. Does it matter so much to listen to a real album over the stereo? Apparently the answer is yes. TV Priest is an exciting band. The song are nearly all highly energetic affairs, where the band truly gives it its whole. With lead guitars like a chainsaw, a rhythm section like a chugging, extremely long freight train scaling the Rockies. Things are happening on this album. What I can't get my head around is, where did the all of a sudden change of appreciation come from? Fact is My Other People has not left my cd player often for over a week. This alternative rock band from the UK has it sort of all.

Wout de Natris

 

You can order and listen to the albums here:

https://godownrecords.bandcamp.com/

https://fuzzclub.bandcamp.com/album/zwei

https://tvpriest.bandcamp.com/album/my-other-people

Sophie Hunger Live. Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, Saturday 25 June 2022 with Géonne Hartman

Photo: Wout de Natris

Another postponed show finally taking place. The surprise of seeing a very pregnant artist in the spotlight, starting to sing an a capella Swiss German song, without the microphone and you could hear a pin drop in Paradiso's Tolhuistuin. The surprise of seeing a totally different Sophie Hunger than ever before. A very confident woman, open, smiling, at ease with the world and herself. The surprise that every time she smiled it was like seeing the younger version of the wife of one of my best friends on stage. This just the beginning of telling you how perfect Sophie Hunger's show was.

Although she opened with the title song of her 2015, fantastic album 'Supermoon', in a radically different version, the backbone of the show was her August 2020 released album 'Halluzinationen'. An album that hangs somewhere between modern beats, electronics and great songs. An album released in the height of the pandemic and falling somewhat flat because no support was possible at all. Even the November 2021 show had to be postponed because of round 3 or 4 of the pandemic. With numbers surging once again in June 2022, this time there is no lockdown.

On stage just three players. The omnipresent keyboardist and flügelhorn player Alexis Anérilles filled up the whole space, so that drummer and percussionist Julian Sartorius could do his amazing rhythms. Just imagine an already complex rhythm to get extra accents within the fourth measure each time, and these accents are usually weird sounds for a drummer. It is as if Sartorius stops time as it were to deliver these two weird accents, before falling back into the rhythm for three measures once again. Rhythms can come from anything attached to or surrounding the drums.

Photo: Wout de Natris

Against this background Sophie Hunger can deliver her songs and play her guitars as little or much as she likes. She is the exact centre of the show and the music. If ever a singer shone on stage, it was Sophie Hunger during this show. She commanded attention. Conversing in a relaxed way with the audience in between, showing big smiles and sing the songs, no matter how complex they are, with an ease that shows how good she is.

Nearly all her albums go to number one in her home country Switzerland, although she lives in Berlin these days. The mystery for me remains, why doesn't she grow a little bigger each album here? She has the songs, the quality, the live performance. The upside is of course that I can see her perform from fairly up close, but I'll forgo this privilege, because Sophie Hunger deserves more, like the Paradiso or Melkweg proper and not the side venue.

We were prepared by her for the end. She announced that with the word "hope" things would be over. Except for three encore songs, of which one was a true punkrocker no less. Her baby will be a rockstar as it has heard so much good music from up close already.

I have seen Sophie Hunger perform five or six times now and all shows were great experiences. Somehow, I have the impression to have seen the best one yet. True or not, there's no way a comparison is possible, it shows how good Sophie Hunger is live. I was mesmerised for the whole time and looking around me, so was everybody else.

Photo: Wout de Natris

The evening was opened by Utrecht based singer Géonne Hartman. One girl, one guitar and singer-songwriter songs from her debut album. A new name to me, she made an impression with her pleasant voice and nice songs. Songs to listen to and the audience allowed for listening. There was no one talking and that is amazing to notice. in a larger venue usually someone always starts and that is the sign for most other people to start doing the same. Not in Tolhuistuin this Saturday. Geónne captured Sophie Hunger's audience and held it. Although I concluded at the end that the songs were a bit the same and the show could use a little more variation, I also noticed the half hour Géonne Hartman played was a time well-spent. She also plays with her band, so it might be worthwhile to check out her songs in another setting as well. All in all a very nice introduction to her music. I have the album on now, and it is quite different and interesting, I can share with you. Check it out sometime.

Wout de Natris

You can order Sophie Hunger's albums on her website:

https://store.sophiehunger.com/store/

and Géonne Hartman's album 'He Went To The See' here:

https://www.platomania.nl/article/11008051/he_went_to_the_sea/hartman_geonne

... And You Will Know Us By The Greatful Dead. Trixsi

What to make of an album with a title that contains three, maybe four jokes in one? Should we take it seriously? And what about the names of the band members? König Wilhelmsburg? Jörkk Mechenbier? The album starts as a joke as well. You will hear an acoustic guitar, hesitatingly finding its way through the chords of a song. Perhaps in the process of songwriting. It is as if in the same room with that lone, uncertain singer-songwriter, behind a curtain, unseen to the lone guitarist, a guitar is plugged in, the player kicks in his distortion pedals to try it out once. Then the curtain drops away and the lone guitarist is blown off his feet by a truckload of noise from a full band. Poor guy, lucky us.

From that moment on, all jokes are set aside, as Trixsi starts rocking out in 'Egal'. Just under two minutes later everything has been said and done. Speaking of opening an album. Most likely everyone, band, studio personnel and listeners are all spent. The speed goes down, but not the quality of Trixsi's music. 'Vergibt Dich Selbst' is a rich song showing the depths Trixsi strives to reach and gets there with ease. Think The Cranberries' 'Zombie' with a punkrock attitude. A combination that totally works here.

What makes ... And You Will Know Us By The Greatful Dead work for me? Apart from the songs themselves of course. This starts with the rhythm section. Over, on and around the super tight drums, the bass guitar plays inventive notes and lines that support the rhythm but also meanders as an almost lead instrument. The combination all through the album works great. Having two guitarist, one left and one right, plus overdubs, is a normal set up for most rock bands, yet here there seems to be a little extra shared with us. The sound as a whole is huge. The guitars are blown up to great proportions, lending the record its extras.

Promo photo

It is the voice that in any other context might become quite tedious fast but works here totally. And then comes the price song of the album. The voice goes down and shares the melody of 'Schlangenmann' with us. This song is so good. Up tempo rock, punk rock, whatever you want to call it, while at the same time gloriously wild pop music is shared. A golden chorus melody and oh so tough playing. A killer of a song and single. A few weeks ago I wrote that 'Schlangenmann' may be the best single coming out of Germany since 'Schandal Im Sperrbezirk'. Let's change that into is the best since.

Trixi's previous album was nice, ... And You Will Know Us By The Greatful Dead is one that I will keep playing. An album that contains a level of musicianship I did not see coming on the basis of 'Frau Gott'. It seems like the band made a choice in what it wants to be and that pays out. More punkrockers than alternative rockers with a few songs in between allowing for catching the breath. And without exception are good as well. With pointing to 'Panik' I rest my case.

Wout de Natris

 

You can listen to and order ... And You Will Know Us By The Greatful Dead here:

https://glitterhouserecords.bandcamp.com/album/and-you-will-know-us-by-the-grateful-dead

Holy Demon. Drens

"I don't wanna go to the record store", is the main message of Drens' single 'Record Store', with which the band found its place on this blog for the first time. It is a strange message for a band wanting to sell records. No matter how much happens online these days.

'Record Store' is a song that brings together alternative and punk rock together successfully. Expect more of that quality on the album, Holy Demon. Ten songs long the power and energy fly around working hard towards either exorcising these demons or making them work for you. My guess is that whatever option the band chose to follow, it worked. Holy Demon is a nice album showing a few sides of Drens.

Drens is a four piece from Dortmund. It released its first EP in December 2019 called 'Pet Peeves'. The band must have had totally different expectations at the time, just like we all had in that month, just before the first messages of a new disease started to reach us. This setback did not deter it from working on new songs, recording them and release them.

With Holy Demon Drens brings together a host of influences from the past and present and incorporates them into its own music. Pop elements can be found in handclaps and the strong use of dynamics. Punk music from the past 30 years comes by. The strong bass sound of Mike Dirnt e.g. is present. Britpop vocal melodies mix with West Coast punk bands or The Cure with The Vaccines, in 'Bloody Knees', to name a specific example. The four young Germans have soaked it all up and created a bunch of songs with their own inner power and melodic prowess.

Promo photo: Leonie Scheufler

Drens shows constantly that it chooses the option that suits a song best and not what could be most popular. In 'No Need To Hide' the band goes full out. Most is made of the tempo and the dirtier sound. It's not for nothing the song is one of my favourites on the album. Instant appeal it has. Over the whole album Drens has made the right choices constantly. The result is an energetic album, interspersed with different accents and sounds, giving the album as a whole the diversity it needs to make a difference.

With Holy Demons as a full-length debut album, Drens has made its point, perfectly caught by producer Sebastian 'Zebo' Adam. The band will be welcomed far beyond its German borders on this basis. Fun and dancing guaranteed.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Holy Demons here:

https://glitterhouserecords.bandcamp.com/album/holy-demon

Unser Scharping. Scharping

Scharping is another German sort of alternative rock band with some punkish traits coming through us thanks to Hamburg's Glitterhouse Records. A few decades ago, I always associated the label with Americana label. In recent years I have totally had to rethink this, to conclude that I know so many alternative German bands now through the label's releases.

Scharping is the most recent band in that list. The Berlin based band holds four musicians also active in other bands: Jermain Mikel Herold (Lost Girls), Angelo Fonfara (Nille Promille), Christian Heerdt (Botschaft) und Kevin Kuhn (Die Nerven). Four captains on one ship and for once it seems to work well.

Musically Unser Scharping spreads it wings in all sorts of directions. Although rock is the basis of most songs, no not all, the music on offer certainly stretches the imagination some and then some more. In short, an album full of surprises, twists and turns.

Superficially, Unser Scharping can be qualified under post punkfunk. There are some similarities with a band like Franz Ferdinand, without the exuberance. The weird, almost dissonant riffs and chords are there and the rhythms accompanying them as well. Listen more closely and you'll notice weirder stuff going on. Zappa's rhythmic, band broad soloing e.g., but also his pseudo disco songs. Also, do not be surprised to hear some progrocking musical muscle flexing.

This is only the start, as you will come across alternative rock ballads and even some sort of classically or Medievally sung track that really stands out, without becoming an aberration. Somehow 'Saelic' fits on this album, in all its sobering seriousness with a tongue firmly in cheek.

Over it all, it is also totally evident that the album can only come out of Germany. Yes, they sing in German but that is not all there is to it. There's something about the way of singing in German in combination with this kind of music and the mood coming with it that makes Unser Scharping typically a German album. Don't ask me to specify any further, it's a feel coming with the album. This album simply would have sounded different, had it been made in the English speaking world.

When the second half of the album moves into a more pop-rock oriented sphere, it becomes even more fun than it already is. A track like 'Emily' is sheer fun to listen to. It brings the best Belgium bands of the 1990s to mind in the verses, while Scharping goes into straight competition with Dutch band The Maureens in the chorus, while taking on the whole world in the intro.

With Unter Scharping Scharping successfully explores all the different sides the individual band members hold within them, where the others support these wide-ranging ideas to the best of their abilities. The result? Unter Scharping. Hearing is believing.

Wout de Natris

You can order the LP and cd in the Glitterhouse mail shop:

https://mailorder.glitterhouse.com/suchergebnisse.html

Ease. Warm Graves

Last Friday, I started my review of King Hannah's new album with a reference to Shocking Blue's 'Hello Darkness'. I could easily do so again today (and just have of course). Ease contains a totally different sort of music, dark it certainly is as well. Also quite different from what one would in general expect with a band name like Warm Graves. No, this is not doom metal. Continue reading to find out what I am writing about.

Warm Graves is the musical project of Jonas Wehner who lives in Leipzig in Germany. Started in 2012, Warm Graves released its debut album 'Ships Will Come' in 2014 and took eight years to produce a second album, which was released yesterday. A period so long that ease is not the word coming to mind, as far as producing a second album is concerned. The same goes for the music. In the first instance, that is. Who allows him/herself to get into the vibe of Ease, will notice that the dark sounds can be listened to with ease.

Where the music is concerned, Ease is the 1980s all over again. Dark synths, electronic beats, electronically treated vocals. That was not exactly my kind of music. Ultravox, Gary Newman, just a couple of names that come to mind. Please, do not ask me why, but there's a major difference. Where I could not listen past a few songs of the 1980s acts of the day, I fully go with Warm Graves' flow. Is it, just to name an example, the bass guitar that jumps into 'Black Wine' and changes the song around for me? Is it the wide synths in 'Neon', that inexplicably on the face of it, makes me think of 'Riders On The Storm'? The band that really stands out for me here is Depeche Mode. What I expect is that Wehner was influenced by German bands like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk as well, but I'm not too well versed here.

With Ease Warm Graves shares an extremely dark album with the world, reflecting the times in which it was made. That can be personal of course, but it certainly is a soundtrack for all the war-mongering and conspiracy noises being ventilated in the past days, months and years. In a world where many people have never had it as good as in our days, the feel is pessimistic and even defaitistic. Ease underscores this modern world with its bleak darkness, where everything is made by machines. Luckily for us humans, behind it all is the person Jonas Wehner, who is responsible for all we hear. This does leave just enough of a human touch and at times even a hint of light.

What we hear is a world where it is easy to sink into. The kind of music that can suck the listener fully in and exclude everything else. Ease scores high on this point. Whatever else is going on Ease, makes it enough for the length of nine songs to just be together with Ease. This is an achievement, as I'm not one in general for this kind of music. Let yourself be surprised as I was by the many twists the album presents and follow the flow of it. It is more than worth your while.

Wout de Natris

Stuttgart 21. Peter Muffin Trio

Single 'An Allen Tagen' bereidde me op geen enkele wijze voor op Stuttgart 21. Het is een aardig, zelfs enigzins braaf deuntje, als ik het afzet tegen de nummers op het album. Hier gaan alle registers geregeld open, zonder enige terughouding. Het Peter Muffin Trio gaat los en dat zal de wereld weten.

Als ik het album in een hoekje moet duwen, dan kom ik toch bij de punk uit, met een flinke laag existentiële angst die moeiteloos aan de oppervlakte komt en zo wat emotionele diepgang injecteert in Stuttgart 21.

Met Stuttgart 21 debuteert Peter Muffin Trio op het Glitterhouse Records label met haar eerste album. Door de stadsnaam Stuttgart in de titel moest ik meteen aan Die Nerven denken, een band die al een paar maal op dit blog voorbij is gekomen. Nu ik mij meer verdiep in het Peter Muffin Trio, blijkt er een directe link te zijn. Julian Knoth van Die Nerven heeft besloten nog meer punk te willen spelen dan zijn band al doet. Samen met Caroline d'Orville (Zirkel) and Philipp Knoth (Karies) maakt hij meer herrie dan ooit.

Onze hoofdstad kan zich een beetje verkneukelen aan hoe een groot infrastructureel project in Stuttgart, genaamd Stuttgart 21, uit de klauwen is gelopen. Amsterdam is niet de enige stad waar zoiets heel erg fout kan lopen in de tijd en de centen. De hoes van de plaat is ongetwijfeld een van de tunnelbuizen waar nog jaren geen trein of metro doorheen gaat rijden. Wel indrukwekkend om te zien.

En dat woord, indrukwekkend, is het juiste woord om terug te keren tot Stuttgart 21. Want als de plaat iets is, dan is het indrukwekkend. En dat is dus precies wat ik niet verwacht had op basis van 'An Allen Tagen'. Dat is niet meer dan een aardig liedje, dat de plaat ook opent. Daarna gaat het los om in een orgie van geluid te eindigen in 'Stuttgart Am Meer'. Daar tussenin laat Peter Muffin Trio zich van verschillende kanten zien, maar energie en kwaliteit zijn twee kenmerken die de plaat nimmer verlaten.

Promo foto: Marina Buneta

Het is de variatie tussen de tracks die Stuttgart 21 diepgang geeft en de plaat boven de middelmaat laat uitsteken. De verschillende soorten muziek toont aan de ene kant de zeer verschillende (punk)invloeden op het trio, maar aan de andere het enorme enthousiasme waarmee men te werk is gegaan. Er zijn tracks tussen waar het bijna letterlijk knettert. 'Wir Sehen Uns Morgen' is daar een heel goed voorbeeld van. De band knalt uit de startblokken, maar weet even zo goed zich in te houden in het zeer ritmische refrein waar drums en bas met een slaggitaar de hoofdrol krijgen; voordat alles weer losbarst. De ritmesectie is sowieso heel bepalend voor het geluid van Peter Muffin Trio. Philip Knoths drums bepalen de hele achterkant van het geluid. De (vervormde) bas legt daar een laag overheen. Charlotte d'Orville mag dan grotendeels dienend spelen, opvallend is haar ritmische spel zeker. Ze kit het geluid niet dicht. Iets was bij trios vaak gebeurd. Daaroverheen kunnen er twee dingen gebeuren. Nee, eigenlijk drie. Julian Knoth speelt soms niets namelijk. De andere twee smaken zijn: kaal en ritmisch ('Melancholie') of avontuurlijke, uitwaaierende gitaarpartijen. Het is dan ook heel verrassend om opeens een saxofoon solo te horen op het einde van 'Winter'. Een blaasinstrument komt nog vaker voor in een paar nummers. Het is de enige verfraaiïng op Stuttgart 21. Er kan een gitaar overdub tussen zitten hier en daar, zoals bijvoorbeeld in het Bowie-achtige 'Fehler'.

Het valt mij op dat luisteren naar punk en indierock in het Duits, helemaal prima is. De laatste jaren heb ik sowieso met zekere regelmaat Duitstalige platen gerecenseerd. Van nummers in het (Zwitser)Duits van Sophie Hunger, maar eerder dit jaar bijvoorbeeld van Steiner und Madlainer. Er is een overeenkomst, behalve het Duits, de kwaliteit. Ook Peter Muffin Trio presenteert een echt prima plaat. Avontuurlijk, verrassend, spannend. Zo maar een aantal kwalificaties die Stuttgart 21 allemaal goed omschrijven. Een aanrader dus.

Wout de Natris

Je kunt Stuttgart 21 hier bestellen:

https://mailorder.glitterhouse.com/album/5/rock--metal/2300664/stuttgart-21-(pre-order-voe2506).html

of luister naar onze Spotify Playlist om uit te vinden waar we over schrijven:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Interview with Rene Methner of Para Lia for WoNoBlog

Interview: Wout de Natris

© WoNo Magazine 2021 

 

Now Para Lia, the Cottbus, Germany band of René and Cindy Methner, has released two albums and some singles, most were reviewed on this blog, it was time for me to learn more about Para Lia. What is behind the strong imagery of the album 'Gone With The Flow'?, was something I was particularly curious about. René Methner answers all in this interview and shows how strongly he was motivated by the work of artist Louis Renzoni, with whom he fully collaborates, both ways, as you are about to find out.

 

Para Lia is not an average name for a German band. What is the reason for the band’s name and what makes Greece special for you?

Παραλία means "coast" or "beach" in Greek. It was the place Cindy and me once thought about a name for the alt rock project we were working on. We, and me especially, have a deep connection with Greece. It is the place where you can take a deep breath to fill your soul with energy – when your batteries run low.

You are a duo, where you, René, create and play most of the music. Can you take us back to a time before Para Lia. Did you play and/or sing in bands?

I started to make music in a band as a student when I was 18. Our band was called ‘The Shuttlecocks’ and we started with 3 chords, practised every day, played live gigs then, recorded an album, produced a CD, got good critics in zines like ‘RockHard’ – and then we split. After The Shuttlecocks I played in a band called ‘Molz’. Later I paused because of different reasons. But never stopped to play the guitar. In late 2017 I felt the urge to write my own songs again – there was something inside of me, wanting to get out – and with the song ‘Soap Bubble Dreams’ Para Lia was born.

Was there a special reason that you decided to start working on your own and if so what was that reason?

It is a freedom in writing, playing and recording your own stuff. You are not bound on special times in the rehearsal room for instance, you are not a slave of the ‘band members time management’, you can work whenever your own creativity and your own time allows it. I love that.

You are first a guitar player is my guess. What are your favourite guitar players and which one(s) influenced you most?

I got my first acoustic guitar as a teen and from somewhere I got the ‘Live Rust’ album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. I started to jam to songs like ‘Cortez the Killer’. I still love the Crazy Horse stuff and it is definitely a huge influence. I love a melodic guitar – with a good dose of edges. I also love the style of J. Mascis – ‘Riders On The Dike’ from the last album is a kind of a musical reminiscence. But I am also a fan of the 60’s garage rock and the early fuzz sound of that era. And there are a lot of indie rock bands of the 90’s with a fantastic guitar sound, such as Seam, Pixies, Buffalo Tom, Motorpsycho, etc.

If you could pick one band or artist that you could play with who would that be and why?

Norway's ‘Motorpsycho’. One of the best live bands ever in my humble opinion. Pure magic.

What were your favourite albums when growing up? Has that changed over the years?

I still love the stuff I loved when I was a young guy. Besides of ‘Live Rust’, definitely ‘Doolittle’. So bloody cool and musically a cathedral of indie rock. As a teen I also discovered bands from the previous times, such as Slade – I still love their energy.

You’ve called your new album ‘Gone With The Flow’. What is the idea behind the title and where did the flow take you?

To a collaboration with the New York based artist called Louis Renzoni. Music and paintings – the meeting of both and the relationship between both art forms is the essence of the album. You can get an impression if you visit the 3D online exhibition with all album songs by Para Lia, paintings from Louis Renzoni, background informations, videos etc.

Give it a visit here: https://www.sophisticatedape.com/gone-with-the-flow-exhibition/

Another image that returns are “the riders on the dike”. Where are they going and what makes this image so strong that you used it twice on the album. (And where is that dike?)

The image appears first on the album in the track 'Children Of The Flood‘ as "rider on the white horse on the dike". Louis’s work plays with many interesting shades and suggestions. A lot of his paintings connect the modern with expressions which seem to come from 19th century aesthetics. It feels like a surreal view into the Victorian age. With this thought in mind, the lyrics to ‘Children Of The Flood’ made an appearance. Having a base in one of the finest lyrical "paintings" of the German 19th century novel ‘The Rider On The Dike’ by Theodor Storm. A dark novel, a Faustian plot, and a ghost rider on a white horse on a dike. The lyrics attempt to connect the overall impression of Louis' and Storm’s work to a current narrative, to save the dike, perhaps a metaphor for much of what we see happening around us? The balance here was to try and hold back the outright rage which is often part of modern discourse.

"The darker the shadow the brighter the light" is a quote from Louis and was the title of one of his exhibitions in NYC some years ago. 'Riders On The Dike' is the companion piece to the track ’Children Of The Flood‘ and it provides the light to the dark of ’Children..‘ It's a straight ahead 3 chord progression which carries the lightness at a galloping pace.

In ‘Fade To Grey’ you sing that you slowly “fade to grey”, while the music does everything but fade to grey. Was it a conscious choice to have the upbeat tempo and guitar sound contrast with the lyrics?

With the lyrics and with the monotonous voice, yes. But the main ‘image’ here in the track is not the part of the ‘fading’. It is the part of the fear of the artist to fade away because he feels that he lost his muse and his creativity. He is nervous, desperate, begins to become insane. Like a lover who lost his love.

You are from Eastern Germany. When the region is in the news here in The Netherlands, it usually is not very positive. You live there and have lived through a period of great changes and transitions. Has this influenced you in your songwriting in any way?

Of course it did. In the ‘German Democratic Republic’, the former socialistic part of Germany, there was a heavy censorship. Songwriters were not allowed to say what they wanted to say in a clear way and so a lot of song lyrics from that period are very picturesque, full of metaphors and stuff. I love to  write some of my lyrics the same way – one of the reasons why ‘Gone With The Flow’ became what it is – full of metaphors - musical paintings – visually surrounded by Louis great artwork.

You are from Cottbus. Is there a music scene in Cottbus and if so, who should we start listening to?

Give a listen to the Sandow song ‘Born In The GDR’ – and you will have a good impression of the alternative music scene of East Germany in the late 80’s. Today there still is a fine music scene in Cottbus, far from being one dimensional. Heroes of the Cottbus indie rock scene, still are the guys of the band ‘Hundert11’ who offer a sort of fun-punk-alt-rock’. The Cottbus radio station ‘Radio Cottbus’ offered a weekly special called #supportyourlocalartist. A great idea – and it widened the horizon for the huge variety of quality artists we have in our region, so as Mägniss, Emotional Winter and so many more.

The drumming on ‘Gone With The Flow’ is tremendously tight. I understand that you programme the drums. How do you build / record your songs? Where do you start?

With a song playing in my head. So I grab a guitar and start to work it out, first I arrange the drums and record the drums. Then I usually add the bass and the rhythm guitar and step by step the rest.

Cindy sings lead on ‘Kassandra’. What made this her song?

I wanted her to sing the song from the moment the song began to play in my head. And I worked it out with her voice in my head. So it was a natural process.

‘Gone With The Flow’ was released as a beautiful LP. Can you share a little about the artwork? What made you chose the work of Louis Renzoni, as it is such a strong imagery?

This again is a question I would like to answer with: Hey, head over the exhibition on sophisticated ape and get your own impression and get some background information. (https://www.sophisticatedape.com/gone-with-the-flow-exhibition/)

In Corona days there’s no need to think about performing live, but let’s suppose (and hope) that things will go to normal in 2022. What are your plans with your music?

We are working at the moment on new material. First songs are finished. But we are unbound – and so there is no pressure behind it nor a timeline. Maybe it becomes an EP? We will let you know! 

You can order and listen to Para Lia's music here:

https://paralia.bandcamp.com/

or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g