Eleven Eleven. Dinosaur Pile-Up

Dinosaurs are the kind of animals that I associate with my son in his infant years, when he was able to name the most fantastic beast replicas with these incredible long names as if he were pointing out the names and numbers of his Matchbox cars, which was my infancy expertise. And now a band with the name Dinosaur Pile-Up comes along, which is the fate of all infant dinosaur collections. One big pile-up before they are given or thrown away.

What music to expect from a band with this name? I had no idea. Judging from the cover it could well be psychedelic. If you move this page and look at the album cover, you'll know why. Angst, as there is some vertigo involved like in the artwork? The first notes put me straight on the right path. Loud rock riffs bounced around, with grunge of the Nirvana variety not far behind.

Eleven Eleven is the band's third album, although the first two albums were recorded by front man and songwriter Matt Bigland on his own. Playing all the instruments. Since this album the band is a trio. Live drummer Mike Sheils and bassplayer Jim Cratchley joined Bigland to create this monster of a sound together. Nothing was left to chance. Tom Dalgety of Royal Blood fame was asked to produce. The result is just what one would expect: loud riffing and loads of energy. That leaves two things to be in place for the album to be of interest to me: the quality of the songs and dynamics.

Promo photo

I often write that a band has Beatlesque influence, a chord change or harmony that is typical of The Beatles. So let me add a variety to this familiar piece of text. Dinosaur Pile-Up regularly presents its listener with a typical Nirvana chord change or guitar solo. Everyone listening to 'Grim Valentine', just to give one example of many possible, instantly knows what I mean. Foo Fighters is not far away either. I have totally no problem with these influences. They are a given to me and from there I notice that the songs on Eleven Eleven are totally on my good side.

When hard rock or grunge are concerned I start liking it if a band manages to incorporate a good melody in the sludge and grinding. If these elements are not there, I stop listening fairly instantly. Matt Bigland offers both elements in abundance. No matter how hard the band hits the instruments there are interesting melodies to follow and choruses to sing along to. The second element is also all over the place. This band knows how to use the effect of dynamics to the max, giving its songs room to breath and the necessary variety. With 'Bad Penny' a great punk rock song enters this mix with some great, dark riffing. I just love this song.

Promo photo

With that all is said and done where Dinosaur Pile-Up's new album is concerned. You know all that there is to know. Loud riffing, melodies and muscles, probably some tattoos, but above all a genuinely good time for all. And let me add pop. Down and below it all this music has that element that makes it appealing for more people than Kurt Cobain t-shirt clad fans only.


Wo.

You can listen to '11.11' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPr1JR1Iu3w

Teens Of Denial. Car Seat Headrest

Er wordt momenteel heel erg druk gedaan over Teens Of Denial van de Amerikaanse band Car Seat Headrest.
 
Na beluistering van de plaat kan ik alleen maar concluderen dat dit volkomen terecht is en dat zelfs aanprijzingen als ‘de gitaarplaat van het jaar’ niet heel erg overdreven zijn (al wordt de balans natuurlijk pas in december opgemaakt).
 
Car Seat Headrest is de band of het project van muzikant en songwriter Will Toledo uit Williamsburg, Virginia. De band bracht de afgelopen vier jaar al een dozijn (!) platen uit via haar bandcamp pagina, maar debuteerde vorig jaar met de compilatie Teens Of Style op het legendarische Matador label. Teens Of Denial is de eerste plaat met nieuw materiaal die daadwerkelijk in de winkel ligt, maar het is wat vreemd om over het debuut van de band te spreken.
 
Teens Of Denial van Car Seat Headrest maakt 70 minuten lang een onuitwisbare indruk met 12 songs die bol staan van de invloeden. Bij eerste beluistering van Teens Of Denial hoorde ik veel van Pavement, Pixies, Talking Heads, Guided By Voices, R.E.M., Radiohead, Television, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, Eels, The Strokes en The Cars, maar bij volgende luisterbeurten kwamen er zoveel namen bij dat vergelijken vrijwel zinloos is.
 
Car Seat Headrest stopt haar songs vol met invloeden uit een aantal decennia rockmuziek, maar slaagt er desondanks in om een eigen geluid te laten horen. Het is een geluid dat gruizig kan rocken of heerlijk kan rammelen, maar Will Toledo verrast ook met tijdloze popsongs, onweerstaanbare gitaarloopjes, melodieën om te zoenen, heerlijke blazers of Beach Boys achtige koortjes.
 
Teens Of Denial laat zich beluisteren als een ambitieuze conceptplaat over de weg naar volwassenheid van tiener Joe, maar het is net zo goed een verzameling tijdloze popsongs. In eerste instantie word je nog wat overdonderd door de veelheid aan goede ideeën of juist afgeleid door het bij vlagen erg rammelende karakter van de plaat, maar wanneer je eenmaal gewend bent aan de muziek van Car Seat Headrest overheerst de bewondering voor deze razend knappe plaat.
 
Teens Of Denial is een plaat die steeds weer nieuwe dingen laat horen en ook steeds meer indruk maakt. In technisch en muzikaal opzicht mankeert er van alles aan, maar wat is het een krachtig statement en wat bevat de plaat veel momenten die de muziekliefhebbers zielsgelukkig maken. Wat een geweldige plaat!

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Vincent':

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

From My Veins Will Fall. Ali Holder

Who else tipped me on Ali Holder but that connoisseur of female Americana, Erwin Zijleman. I liked 'In Preparation of Saturn's Return' so much that I ordered the album on Bandcamp and wrote my own review as well. And now Ali Holder is back with a new mini album that I seem to like even more than her previous effort.

On From My Veins Will Fall Ali Holder has stripped down to the basis of her music. To what she, in my imagination, could sound like live with a just a basic band around her. All embellishments, no matter how alive, are gone and makes her voice jump out in a very direct way. The first strong point of this mini album.

All you hear on From My Veins Will Fall you will have heard before. In that way there is nothing original on the album. But before you stop reading, you better pay attention first. Although Ali Holder falls into a long tradition of singers in the Americana/roots/rock tradition (she likes slashes, so let me put in a few here), she adds herself to this mix and that allows her to climb to the higher branches of the tree in an extremely fast but graceful fashion.

The basis of the album was laid in a ten day isolation writing session on a Texas ranch with more buffalo than men around her. The daily desert was a Stephen King book, both as reward and inspiration. These ideas she brought to her band and producer Andrew Ratcliff and together they turned her songs into these free-flowing towers of roots power. Fluent yet powerful. And there is strength number two for you. On this album Ali Holder impresses without having to use any kind of force. The songs do all the work for her. I'll cede you the guitar solo in 'Don't Show The Devil', which is using brute force, but it is the exception to the rule.

The songs on From My Veins Will Fall are not perfect pop songs. There may be a concealed pop element in the songs, but they are not pop. Perfect though they are. It all fits flawlessly, the songs sound like they were always here as if they are cover version of long existing songs. So here comes another strong point: we are listening to Ali Holder originals here that touch this level of proficiency. They are totally original in all their familiarity.

Finally I mention the great playing and singing on the album. The harmonies on 'Elastic Time' are fabulous. The interplay of the band is functional and supportive, making Ali Holder stand out, and then going the extra mile, making the sound so smooth, while keeping all the edges in the right places, making the music more dangerous than expected. The is the best of the multiverse, certainly not both worlds only.

Fellow Texan Amanda Pearcy comes to mind in the final song, 'Ghost Of A Man', although she sings about 'Comfort The Soul Of A Man'. In feel the songs resonate the same way for me. Again the edge comes out with the electric guitar at the right moment ending the EP on another musical high.

Where 'In Preparation Of Saturn's Return' was multi-layered, even eclectic in parts, From My Veins Will Fall is much more even and same minded. At the same time, it is so much better. It's too bad that I discovered the album too late, as it would have made my top 10 last year, with two fingers in the nose.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Ghost Of A Man' live here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtuJOrQFw2w

or buy the album on her Bandcamp website:

https://aliholder.bandcamp.com/album/from-my-veins-will-fall

Why Are You OK. Band of Horses

Not so long ago Band of Horses received one of the only negative posts on this blog. Simply because I had already written  some on the album, but the more I listened to it, the more I started to resent the smoothness of the 'Acoustic at the Ryman' album. For once I decided to show my irritation with music, despite the fact that I have a strong conviction that most music is made from the heart and personal emotions. Which makes it hard for me to be negative about it, even if don't like it. Fast forward to 2016 to the new studio album of Band of Horses. Will it fare better?

Why Are You OK opens with this languorously slow song called 'Dull Times/The Moon'. Dull times?, wasn't that at the Ryman? A dangerous start for the Band of Horses, were it not that this slow, lingering song calls Neil Young to mind at his best and slow, with a singer with a far more steady voice. The song goes forward like a small river traversing a flat land. The current slow but sure. And then it hits a small ravine, speeds up, falls of cliffs and becomes unnavigable. That is what happens to 'Dull Times' as it, or so I imagine', moves into 'The Moon'. Two faces to the same song. A great beginning to Why Are You OK

Band of Horses is the band of Ben Bridwell since 2004. Although the band was a beehive of members in its first three years, since 2007 it has a stable line up. Although that I will have heard most of the five albums preceding Why Are You O.K., I never truly found my way into the albums and the songs they contain, not unlike My Morning Jacket that I always start liking but am turned off on after the third song. This all changed with this 2016 album. Bridwell and his fellow musicians touch all the right buttons here.

On Why Are You OK Band of Horses in one way plays a traditional form of country rock that is around since CSN&Y and The Eagles. By unleashing the rock beast a little here and there the songs gain some more depth and originality. The slowish 'Throw My Mess' is a great example of how this works. The drums kick just this little harder giving the solo guitar notes this extra edge that makes the song truly come alive and provides the room for the dreamy The Beach Boys inspired 'Whatever, Wherever'. Soft, acoustic and introspective. We are totally back with the river in the flatlands here.

Acoustic 60 and 70s are all over the album. From a Gordon Lightfoot acoustic guitar, to a typical The Beatles chord change, The Byrds 12 string sound and CSNY singing, it can all and more, be found on Why Are You OK. All meshed into originals that Band of Horses polished so hard that they shine all the way home and beyond. Although Why You Are OK is not a happy sounding album, it makes me feel warm and happy to listen to. 'Barrel House' is one of those songs. It may have been done a million times before, this a such a beautiful song. Laidback and no one trying to break the chain, all at ease in the slow pace that plays out the song. "OOOOOO", Bridwell sings and rightly so.

So in 2016 all's well between Wo. and Band of Horses. I'm not apologising, nor making up for 'Ryman', Why You Are OK is a beautiful album, up with the greater ones in this genre.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Whatever, Wherever' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3gEoGZtb4c

Cleopatra. The Lumineers

Ik was een paar jaar geleden best onder de indruk van het debuut van de uit Denver, Colorado, afkomstige band The Lumineers, maar de plaat werd uiteindelijk compleet stuk gedraaid door de in eerste instantie best vermakelijke maar uiteindelijk toch vooral bloedirritante single Ho Hey.
 
Ho Hey degradeerde The Lumineers tot een one trick pony, tot een Sky Radio band en tot het Amerikaanse antwoord op Mumford & Sons. Probeer daar vervolgens maar weer eens van af te komen op je tweede plaat; het is een lastige zo niet onmogelijke opgave.
 
Toch zijn The Lumineers er wat mij betreft glansrijk in geslaagd. De band heeft dit niet gedaan door afstand te nemen van het geluid van haar debuut. Ook op Cleopatra geeft de band een geheel eigen invulling aan Amerikaanse rootsmuziek en vermengt het traditionele rootsklanken met pop en rock; voor een belangrijk deel op dezelfde wijze als op het in commercieel opzicht zo succesvolle debuut.
 
Cleopatra bevat flink wat tracks die ook best op het debuut hadden kunnen staan. Hiertussen een aantal aanstekelijke songs die bijna schreeuwen om een paar hey’s of ho’s, maar gelukkig laat de band zich hier niet toe verleiden.
 
Cleopatra is wat meer ingetogen dan het debuut en een stuk minder eenvormig. Zeker naarmate de plaat vordert klinkt de muziek steeds subtieler en intiemer, waarbij het prachtige gitaarwerk en de piano een hoofdrol vervullen. De bijzondere percussie, die zo’n belangrijke rol speelde op het debuut van de band, duikt nog een aantal keren op, maar wordt nog veel vaker achterwege gelaten.
 
Het komt de intensiteit van de muziek van The Lumineers zeer ten goede. Zeker wanneer de instrumentatie wat meer ingetogen en wat donkerder is, vertrouwt de band volledig op de vocalen van Wesley Schultz en hoe vaker ik naar Cleopatra luister, hoe meer ik onder de indruk ben van deze vocalen. Het zijn vocalen die prachtig getergd kunnen klinken, maar het zijn ook vocalen die de soms wat vlak klinkende songs  van The Lumineers kunnen voorzien van heel veel diepgang.
 
Cleopatra bevat, ondanks de kleinere rol voor de stuwende percussie, ook veel meer dynamiek dan zijn voorganger. De band durft klein en intiem te klinken, maar is ook niet bang voor stevigere uithalen.
 
Het gekke is dat ik na vele keren horen nog steeds bang bent dat de band opeens weer een Hey Ho uit de speakers laat komen, maar van die angst moet ik maar snel af. Cleopatra van The Lumineers is immers een hele mooie en toch ook eigenzinnige rootsplaat, die het zo succesvolle debuut in artistiek opzicht op alle fronten overtreft. Of dat in commercieel opzicht ook zo zal zijn durf ik te betwijfelen, maar dat komt de muziek van The Lumineers alleen maar ten goede. Cleopatra is een prachtplaat, waar ik steeds meer van ga houden.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Cleopatra':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN5s9N_pTUs