IX. ... And They Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

As busy, unstructured and muddily colourful the album art is, so structured are the songs on IX. Since somewhere at the beginning of the millennium I am following Trail of Dead, even wrote a short, short story on the band's name in a WoNo Magazine circa 10 years ago. Time flies. With IX Trail of Dead made another album that makes a difference. My favourite album so far was 'The century of self' (2009), but that may change some time soon.

IX, yes the band's 9th album, is a beast of a rocker. Full, all emerging and with not a lot held back by Trail of Dead. The band fills up the whole of the sound spectrum. Nothing left to guess at. All holes are filled with one massive sound or another. The drums are hit hard by whoever is playing them. The bass pumps up the songs. The rhythm guitars and synths fill up the rest over which is sung. Lead notes and instruments are laid on top of all that.

Core members of Trail of Dead are Conrad Keely and Jason Reece, who alter between vocals, guitars and drums, with some keyboards a well played by Keely, Autry Fulbright II on bass and Jamie Miller on drums and guitar make up the band. As you'll be able to guess, there are many ex-members to this band. Keely and Reece seem to be a very stable factor amongst themselves. Together they cook up a storm. I don't know if you were ever really hit by a wave and for a couple of seconds lost all contact with the seabed, being knocked about by the force of the wave? Well this is the impact of IX. Put on a headset and you're sonically knocked about a lot. With at the exact right moments some lenience, that allows you to come up for air, before you're being sucked in again by the force of Trail of Dead.

'Lie without a liar' is such a forceful song. It just keeps pounding in all the right ways when talking hardrock. 'The ghost within' allows for a few moments of rest, tension slowly building, with the release coming at the "Now you want to let go" moment. The right lyric at the right moment if ever there was one.

No matter how different the two bands are, I can't escape thinking this is the sort of album U2 might have wanted to make in 2014. Urgent, making a difference and forceful. 'Lost in the grand scheme', however much a Trail of Dead song, is all that is missing on 'Songs of innocence'. The rhythm guitar sound overall is darker, but it isn't difficult to imagine The Edge playing here, where the lead guitar comes close enough.

'The dragonfly queen' is another such example of how good Trail of Dead is. This little more pop and a tat less hardrock. The drums are just as loud, driving the song onwards, the keyboards and vocal melody make it a pop song as do the lead guitar melodies. It is the variation in songs from the loud opening trio with the middle section that make IX an irresistible album.

And so I have just defined for you why I like Trail of Dead so much more than many a metal/hardrock/progrock band. To specify some more. Trail of Dead is so much better in melody, build up, dynamics and variation. It lets go in time, it dares to go full out, finds the softer melody in loudness, does not shy away from a good pop moment and is to the point when a song demands it. IX holds all that and more. The storm continues towards the end with another couple of stark rockers. And the almost classical piece 'Like Summer Tempests Came His Tears' comes by. Violins all over the place, until the band joins and follows the lead piano. Psychedelia meets the classics and Conrad Keely shows that the classical piano training in his youth wasn't for nothing. With a final rocker, 'Sound of the silk', Trail of Dead ends off the storm called IX.

... And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead with IX has released a fine album. Perhaps its best. Time will tell. I played 'The century of self' for years. It is up to IX to prove itself.

Wo.

You can listen to 'The ghost within' here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-hOq5do9q8

Brill bruisers. The New Pornographers

There are days that the introduction to a new album by a loved band is nothing but immense joy. While I was aware of the fact The New Pornographers had released a new album, I sort of forgotten it. When I finally ran into Brill bruisers and put it on it was love at first hear. What a feast Brill bruisers is. Everything seems to be in the exact right place to make Brill bruisers a feast for the ears. A feast of pop, rock, singing, harmonies, everything.

The New Pornographers came into my life with 'Twin cinemas' (2005), an album I picked up because I had been introduced to A.C. Newman's solo album 'The slow wonder' the year before. Brill bruisers is the follow up of 2010's 'Together'. Somewhere after that I saw the band play in Utrecht. After hearing Brill bruisers I got my tickets for the new tour asap. Sunday, Melkweg, Amsterdam.

The New Pornographers is more a collective than a real band. All musicians have (solo) careers aside to the band. On Brill Bruisers the group has grown into an 8 piece band. Although Carl Newman writes most songs, with a few penned by Dan Bejar, The New Pornographers is very much a collective. Different lead singers give the pop rock a different flavour per song. With the pleasant Canadian city of Vancouver as home town, The New Pornographers with Brill bruisers ought to be set to conquer the world. Probably in another universe, but this album has it all to make it big.

From the very start Brill bruisers catches the listener by the throat and doesn't release before the 43 odd minutes are over with just enough room to catch a breath in between. Title song 'Brill bruisers' has a superior beginning. During the few seconds intro I already knew it was time to start listening seriously. Producers Newman and John Collins have chosen a firm, tight and full sound for the album. With the vocals put clearly on top and in front of all. The drums stand out firmly as well. All other instruments envelop themselves around the skins of the drums, that are firmly mixed in the middle, and cast themselves outwards from there.

This level is so easily kept up in 'Champions of red wine'. The extra harmonies fly all over the place. The upbeat rock is superb. While sounding commercial, the song is as alternative rock as such a song can come. 80s synth sound, I usually hate, are blended into a great melody and fairly hard-rocking guitars. It's just that the melody is so fantastically good. Quite a winner 'Champions of red wine is'. On the whole it's the alternate lead singing gives the album variation and pace. The fabulous harmonies are the cherry on the Brill bruisers cake. Most choruses are instantly singable.

In the up tempo songs and in the more melancholy sounding songs like 'Backstairs', The New Pornographers come up trumps. All have this inner drive. Not just rhythm wise, which all songs have, but to succeed and mostly to please. And please they do. The right chord changes and melody in all the right places.

There's only one conclusion left. Brill bruisers, an album on brink of pop and rock, is on the top of this game. A high quality is kept up effortlessly 13 songs long. The New Pornographers have come up with another great album. It's time more people become more aware of this fact.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Brill bruisers' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhhtSXk1c70

Everything will be alright in the end. Weezer

Weezer is one of those bands that can go either way with me in a tremendous form. Either I totally love it or I chuck an album away at first listen. That sort of happened with a few of its albums and for 50% of its debut album, the blue one. The great, famed 'Pinkerton'? I can't remember caring much about it, but perhaps it's time for a reassessment. There is a faint recollection of recent album with some dance influences, horendous.

Weezer is a band with a couple of great pop rock songs, some of which border on metal with a pop twist. 'Hashpipe', 'Beverley Hills', 'Isn't it a pity', 'Buddy Holly'? Great songs with a sluggish guitar hacking away at the rhythm. Everything will be alright in the end is another of Weezer's albums that sits quite right with me. Loads of big old guitar songs at the highest Weezer level.

Except for the hideous cover that is. If it´s only the cover I can start complaining about, a band can be quite happy. Unless it just loves the cover and does not care overly much for the music of course. I am totally confident that Rivers Cuomo gives a lot about the songs on this album. If this isn't pure inspiration, nothing is. "Rocking out like it's '94", he sings in 'Back to the shack'. it is easy to read more into a sentence than is meant, but to me the message is 100% clear: This is the best there is on offer, just like 20 years ago.

Why? Because the riffing, the songs as a whole sound urgent. Like there is no time to lose. Over that tight set of songs, Rivers Cuomo delivers some fine melodies. A US rock version of 'Fountains of Wayne'. Everything will be alright in the end is right at that level. The songs all are at a scarily high level. When in the mood and with the time to do so, I can totally submerge myself in this album. Together with Brian Bell (guitars), Scott Shriner (bass) and Patrick Wilson (drums), front man Cuomo has made his best album to date, as there isn't a single weaker brother among the 13 songs on Everything ... A few songs may be a bit corny, the quality is unmistakable.

'The British are coming' is such a song that treads on a very fine line. Exactly at those moments that I think the song is going to take a wrong turn, it takes the right one. Simply by introducing a bridge or another twist that makes 'The British are coming' interesting. 'Cleopatra' is another example. Close to tacky, brilliant instead and unforgettable. The kind of song that refuses to leave the head, even if asked in a friendly way. Weezer comes up with some fantastic ideas, that make a song memorable.

Let alone the great rock songs that open the album. Simply among the best Weezer recorded to date, together with that few real classics that I just know for so long and don't want to let go easily. The guitars are dark, sluggish, yet melodic. The sound Weezer must have patented. In 'Go away' all this comes together again, with the addition of Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino, who gets co-credits for the song. A nice duet and a stepping stone to 'Cleopatra'. Another song with a hidden acoustic guitar in the mix, giving the song this little extra body. The metal piece in the middle and the end, provides such a kick in the ass of 'Cleopatra'. I just love it.

The album ends with a real trilogy. 'The futurescope trilogy'. Weezer rocks out again, with some more pretensions, that is true. The band delivers with the large, huge intro 'I. The waste land'. Queen certainly is an influence here. This gets even more noticeable in 'II. Anonymous'. The piano intro is a Freddy Mercury tribute, after which the song takes another direction, different to what most on Everything ... sounds like. The "hey" part is a little too Green Day to my taste (for Weezer as I like a lot by Green Day). 'III. Return to Ithaka' ends this album in style. (If anyone reading this happens to return to Ithaka, N.Y., say hi to Penny Jo for me, if she's still around.) Another instrumental that jumps all over the place, but convinces without any hardships. A great ending.

Everything will be alright in right in the end is a return to form for Weezer. Nothing more but certainly nothing less. I never heard a more consistent album by Weezer to be honest. Yes, I've already pressed play again and am listening to 'Ain't got nobody' again. Let's rock out some more!

Wo.

You can listen to 'Back to the shack' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H89GXU9OeU

One colour more. Wendy McNeill

Wendy McNeill is een van oorsprong Canadese singer-songwriter, die na een verblijf in Zweden inmiddels vanuit Spanje opereert. De afgelopen twaalf jaar maakte ze een aantal door de critici bejubelde, maar uiteindelijk helaas nauwelijks opgepikte, platen. 

Zelf was ik een jaar of zes geleden zeer te spreken over het eigenzinnige A Dreamer's Guide To Hardcore Living, maar vervolgens ben ook ik Wendy McNeill weer uit het oog verloren. Zonder het enthousiasme van de Nederlandse promotor, had ik de nieuwe cd van Wendy McNeill waarschijnlijk gemist, want de deze week verschenen nieuwe plaat van Wendy McNeill krijgt weer veel te weinig aandacht. One Coulour More had ik echter niet graag gemist, want wat is dit een fascinerende plaat. 

Iedereen die de muziek van Wendy McNeill kent weet dat de Canadese muzikante zich tot dusver bij voorkeur bedient van de kleur zwart, waardoor het hokje folk-noir tot dusver uitstekend bij haar past. Ook One Colour More bevat vooral donker getinte tracks, maar de nieuwe plaat van Wendy McNeill is net wat veelkleuriger dan zijn voorgangers. Op haar nieuwe plaat maakt Wendy McNeill muziek die in het bredere hokje folk past, waarbij folk-noir en licht theatrale folk dit keer de boventoon voeren. 

Op One Colour More is Wendy McNeill weer een meester in het opbouwen van de spanning in haar songs. Een song die ingetogen begint kan eindigen met zwaar aangezette en zelfs wat dramatische klanken en bij Wendy McNeill klinkt het eigenlijk nooit gekunsteld, wat bijzonder is. Bij beluistering van One Colour More moest ik vaak denken aan het oude werk van Sinéad O’Connor (de zang, de dynamiek, het drama), maar One Colour More heeft ook iets van Kate Bush (het experimentele en expressieve), van Scandinavische ijsprinsessen (het mystieke en onderkoelde) en zeker ook van de eveneens wat minder bekende Nina Nastasia. 

Indringende zang en donkere akoestische gitaar klanken (het lijkt soms wel een bas) vormen de basis van de meeste songs op One Colour More, maar hier en daar heeft de Zweedse producer Christoffer Lundqvist de plaat met bijzondere instrumenten voorzien van een voller geluid, geeft Wendy McNeill de songs met haar eigen accordeonspel meer kleur of wordt bijna dreigende percussie ingezet. 

In muzikaal en vocaal opzicht is het allemaal prachtig, waarbij het overigens opvalt hoe zeer Wendy McNeill zich heeft laten inspireren door de Europese muzikale tradities, bijvoorbeeld door met een heuse Franse chanson op de proppen te komen. Maar ook in tekstueel opzicht is de nieuwe plaat van Wendy McNeill de moeite waard. One Colour More is een conceptplaat over immigratie die met grote regelmaat bijzonder fraaie verhalen vertelt. Het zijn verhalen die Wendy McNeill beeldend en bijna poëtisch verteld, wat haar muziek een geheel eigen geluid geeft. Het geeft de muziek van Wendy McNeill nog wat meer zeggingskracht en dynamiek. 

In een tijd waarin muziek steeds weer een digitaal consumptiemiddel lijkt te worden, weet Wendy McNeill zich ook nog eens te onderscheiden met de wijze waarop ze One Colour More heeft verpakt. De verpakking van de cd is zwaar uitgevoerd en het lijvige boekwerk bij de cd staat vol relevante achtergrondinformatie, wat beluistering van de plaat extra leuk maakt. 

Het had heel wat voeten in de aarde voordat Wendy McNeill deze plaat via crowdfunding gefinancierd kreeg, maar het is iedere geïnvesteerde cent waard geweest. Wat een prachtplaat.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'In Boca Al Lupa':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSjyeogm5U

2014 Interview with Sunday Sun’s Yoshi Breen for WoNo Magazine

Sunday Sun Presskit photo

Interview by Wout de Natris

© 2014 WoNo Magazine

Two weeks ago 'We let go' was released by Sunday Sun and got a very positive review on this blog (http://wonomagazine.blogspot.nl/2014/11/we-let-go-sunday-sun.html). Having interviewed Yoshi Breen before, we reached out again. A first, as this is the first time an artist is interviewed by us for a second time. Let's find out what Sunday Sun has been up to in the past two years.

About two years ago we had our first interview. What has Sunday Sun been up to in the meantime?

A lot of gigs. Some big festivals like Concert At Sea. And we recorded our first – real – album WE LET GO in Berlin. It’s been busy!

The band changed drummers this year. What happened?

Yeah! Wouter stayed in Berlin. He needed a new adventure. It was a rough time for the band. Because we didn’t know what to expect. But now it’s all fine and dandy. He’s still a very close friend of mine. And I think he made a good choice moving to Berlin.

In how far has new drummer, Dave Menkehorst,  influenced the band process and/or sound?

Wouter played all the drums on the album itself. But live Dave is influencing the band’s sound a lot. He’s a great drummer and a fantastic singer. He sings like a 90’s rock god. ;-)

The new album is called We let go. A statement?

Letting go has many meanings for us. Letting go of (ex-drummer) Wouter. Letting go creatively. For me personally. As a songwriter I have a clear idea of how I hear a track. But we worked with a producer called Rutger Hoedemakers and looked at the songs from a completely different point of view. For me it’s sometimes hard to let go of the initial idea. But it was a great learning experience. We’re extremely happy with the end result.

Come the second album, if we see the three EPs you released in a few months from each other in 2012 as one album, there’s always “the difficult second album” talk. I do not hear a lot of difficulties on We let go. So was it smooth sailing, the writing and recording?

The writing is always easy between Koen and me. But the recording process wasn’t always smooth. But I mean that in a good way. We really pushed ourselves. And I’m happy we did. We recorded it last summer. And it was just a very busy time. Doing shows and going straight to Berlin to record. There was no break. In hind-sight it was a little over the top. But I guess it also helped the creative energy.

You recorded the album In Berlin. Any interesting stories about the city and recording there?

I love Berlin. I’ve worked there a lot as a songwriter. Still do. And the city is just bursting with young energy. It was great to record the album there. Mainly because you’re all in this different place together. There’s no signing out. You stay in the zone all the time. And of course we had our serious share of partying.

In the online bio you write that producer Rutger Hoedemaekers brought out the best in you. Can you give us some examples of what happened or changed during that process?

He made us rethink our parts. Instead of just strumming the chords. He pushed us to think out of the box. His own inexperience with recording a band helped to make the process more unorthodox.

For the single ‘I call you honey’ the band invited a second producer, Niels Zuidebroek. What was the reason for the extra producer/production?

We wanted a different mix. And he added some stuff. And we recorded some extra brass parts. We’re really happy with what Niels did.

By the way.. Even though Dave didn’t play on the album he did mix one track called WHEREVER YOU GO. So he’s still on the album. ;-)

We let go is released through a record company, V2. What are the major differences for you as a band and what made you change release (and recording?) tactics?

We talked to a lot of labels. And V2 just demanded to work with us. They really loved the record. And their positive energy just felt right. We’ve  got a great team around us now. It feels great to share the load. We used to do everything ourselves. And it just takes the fun away. The thing we like the most is writing music and doing shows.

There are more instruments and sounds on We let go. One of the results of a record company behind the band?

No. Not at all. The record company came in a the very last moment when everything was recorded and mixed. No, that was really our own choice.

Again there are many different influences shining through on this record. Were there specific songs or artists you listened to during the writing and recording process?

Paul Simon, Graceland. Vampire Weekend. Some hip hop stuff. 90’s R&B. We wanted to take our 60’s oriented style to a new place.

I notice that there are songs on the album that on the one hand are about commitments in relationships and others about the end of relations. Two important themes within the band when writing?

Yeah! It’s constantly about Koen and me. Koen was ending his relationship and I was entering a more serious chapter. With getting a baby, etc. So the album is really about those two different points of view.

Frank Jr. Is this a song about Frank Sinatra Jr.? If so, what made you write a song about him and if not who is the song about?

Haha! No, actually it’s not about Frank Sinatra… It’s more a song about getting older and losing yourself. Sort of looking back and trying to re-find your younger – more naïve – self.

During the spring tour show in The Hague you did a 100% acoustic interlude. A conscious choice?

Yeah! We love doing that. There’s a new tour coming next spring and we’ll be doing more of those 100% acoustic interludes. It’s the closest you get to the people you play for. And people seem to love it.

What are your plans for the coming year?

Touring in Spring and a lot of festival in the Summer. And of course promote the album and release some more singles. We can’t wait! 2015 here we come!!!