Feral. RVG

Listening to Feral for the first time, I thought it to be the new album of or new band of ... I can't think of the name for some reason. The voice however sounds so familiar. From quite some time back and sounding too young to be that new band.

RVG has the ability to rock fiercely and still sounding light as if 'Alexandra' is not an indie rock song. Because it is. The song has that desperation in it that can make an indie rock song so extremely good. A touch of things taking a turn for the worst, while in the music still some lightness hovers, that signal things may not be as bad as they seem.

Suede played with a lot more pathos when it started. It's first album comes to mind, while some Johnny Marr guitar techniques have not gone by unnoticed. So in sound RVG is British. So let me look up Feral, because it would not be the first time I am listening to an album that is 30 years old. A long lost gem of U.K. alternative 80s rock.

Pfew, RVG is not "old", but not from the U.K. The band is from Melbourne in Australia and totally influenced by Australian and U.K. 80s alternative rock. The first nearly totally passed me by at the time, the second certainly did not. The mix is enticing. If the music from Australia at the time was this good, perhaps I have some back-paddling to do.

RVG recorded with Victor van Vugt behind the recording console. A name I haven't run across for some time. He helped produce an album with an incredibly light touch. The guitars sound high with some light reverb added. Singer Romy Vager is able to lay her (please excuse me for writing his first) sneery voice over the music, giving the music a streetwise attitude. A good example to listen to is 'Help Somebody'. Several guitars play themselves out over the bass and drums that are more functional than prominent. At the end a guitar like an electric saw enters the whole, varying in badness. Vager sings her lyrics with a punky tone, without overdoing it. 'Prima Donna' is not the strongest song on the album, at first, but has a great ending. The intro to the next song, 'Perfect Day', continues that level immediately. The songs make for variation securing the album the attention it deserves.

I find I am very much attracted to this mix. In a way I am surprised because I also hear influence like Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, a band I just not liked for more than two songs and even them not extremely. The same goes for The Smiths. I still can't listen to more than three, four songs tops in a row. By contrast, RVG does not pose a challenge for me at all. Why? A good question. The answer will have to wait until I know the album a lot better, sure, but I am sure it has to do with following two things. The songs, at least to me, are better, where the likes of Lloyd Cole are concerned, less so for The Smiths. Here the absence of the always on the point of bursting into tears voice of Morrissey certainly helps.

It seems like Feral is off to a good start with me. I'm truly looking forward for the album to grow on me some more.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy Feral here:

https://rvgband.bandcamp.com/album/feral


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

Electric Feat. Electric Feat

A new album from Greece reached me recently. It is becoming something normal, now multiple labels from the Greek speaking world have found their way to my inbox. Again I find myself writing on one of them, as Electric Feat compares quite nicely with albums from several Belgium rock bands I reviewed over the past year.

It is not so normal at all, so let me first give an insight on Greek music and myself. I am quite certain that the first Greek song I was exposed to was the theme song to 'Zorba The Greek'. My aunt had the single I remember loving the way the melody sped up. Little did I know at the time that the song was the biggest hit of 1965. In fact for decades it was the best scoring song in the all time ever chart, to be disposed in 2011/12 by Gotye's hit. 'Somebody That I Used To Know'. Next is 'Rain And Tears', Aphrodite's Child's huge hit in 1968 and other hits by the band. After that Vicky Leandros, Nana Mouskouri and Demis Roussos solo, but not a single song I particularly liked. In the 80s Jon & Vangelis scored a few hits. After that nothing, barring the Greek pop music I heard busdrivers play in Greece while on holiday, until Inner Ear Records contacted me.

Electric Feat is a classic rock group. The influences of 60s rock and 70s classic rock are all over the place. Hints at psychedelia play a role as well. Singer Georgios Dimakis, who we also know as Prins Obi, certainly is a Jim Morrison fan and is able to change his voice into the deeper range. like Morrison did, but without losing his ability to sing, like Morrison did. The band as a whole is not afraid to throw in some The Doors elements as well. More to stress certain parts of the album than to play at pretending to be The Doors. Just as easily classical rock parts come by with a strong riff flying around. For The Netherlands fans of DeWolff should pay extra attention here.

Photo: Eftychia Vlachou & Kostas Stergiou

Listen to Electric Feat and it is easy to spot many musical references to the era classic rock ruled. The band consists of four people who like to frequent a pub together and undoubtedly discuss and listen to music there frequently. I can imagine them deciding on one evening to start making music we love together. The result is not original, that's impossible for an album that looks backwards, but certainly strong. Just listen to how firm the rhythm section plays. Themos Ragousis' (Madam Manthos), bass guitar holds the deep end, almost too scary to look into. Kostas Stergiou's (The Tree) drumming lays a perfect foundation. This leaves all the freedom to excel for guitarist Dionysis Nanos (Dr. Nanos). His guitar is all over, without being afraid to hold back and let a song implode and lean on the rhythm section to keep it going. 'Leather Jacket' is an excellent example of how the band is able to play with melodies and dynamics.

Rock may be dead. It was The Doors themselves that proclaimed it to be so. They were proven wrong a long time ago. With bands like Electric Feat, even if the album is to be considered to be an outing by (musical) friends, we can be certain that rock will live a while longer. No matter what dance oriented people say. They existed when I was young,  called soul, then disco, house, EDM and whatever. I never cared, o.k., there's always a good exception, there always were and will be good rock bands. Electric Feat is one of them. Influences are all nice and good but without inspiration and skills there's no good album. I can bake a cake but will not sell it a bakery. Electric Feat however deserves a spot in every record store.

Rock dead? Don't make me laugh!

Wo.

You can buy Electric Feat here:

https://electricfeat.bandcamp.com/album/electric-feat


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

7 Singles

Merry Go Round. Fridolijn
Yes, I remembered the name, but when? I could not have told you for the life of me. It turns out that nearly four and a half years ago I reviewed 'Catching Currents', in December 2015. I do not know if Fridolijn released other work in between but Merry Go Round is an exceptional single.

Merry Go Round is like a daydream of the lightest and most friendly kind. Fridolijn sings with a light voice, avoiding all strains to her voice. It hovers over the music like a strand of fog over the pastures of Holland, covering only the legs of the cows in there. Fragile and touching but untouchable. A light moisture on my sleeve is all that remains of that fog.

The music is just as dreamy, just as light and floating. Deep down in the song is an acoustic guitar that may be its very heart. Over it layers of electronics are built, accompanied by a piano, a bass guitar, drums later on.

Together Merry Go Round becomes the stuff fairy tales are made of. Sprinklings of stardust, catching the sun's rays. The only word left to write is: beautiful.

Weightless. Lizzy
A new single by Lizzy. I may start out by sounding negative, but stay around because I won't end in this vein. Why? Weightless is not for me. Lizzy makes music for a different generation than mine. Sometimes we may meet somewhere in the middle like with 'Teach Me', early this year. With Weightless she moves in another, more modern pop, dance direction. This is a smart thing to do, as this is the music that is popular in 2020. She has a nice voice to listen to, as I have written on these pages a few times. Together with producer Joes Brand, also drummer in The LVE, she is able to catch the modern times and make it her own as well. That this song is not for me, does not mean it is not for you. All who like a slow version of electropop should check Weightless out, as it simply does a lot of things right.

Seventeen. Watts
Watts featured on this blog once before with a previous single. Now 'Queens' was a nice song, Seventeen is the ultimate 'Queens'. This single starts with the same powerchord as 'Skandal im Sperrbezirk', then blends all the strongest Herman Brood & his Wild Romance songs like 'Saturday Night', 'Never Be Clever' and 'Hot Shot' into one big thrust of energy. Connect that with the pop rock side of Billy Idol and the best punk singles where some horns are allowed into and we come close to the result called Seventeen. This single is 110% excitement combined with a chorus all lovers of powerpop punk & roll will crave shouting along to. Of course at my age I'm not allowed any longer to even look at a 17 year olds, let alone shout out calls like this. It is as strange as singing one of my favourite The Beatles song, 'I Saw Her Standing There'. All 17 year old girls, please forgive me this once but I just need to sing SEVENTEE-EEN!

they told us it was hard, but they were wrong. Ela Minus
And now for something completely different. I can see John Cleese sitting in the sea, walking in rags, etc. Ela Minus has nothing to do with the Pythons, it's just the stark musical difference between her dance/electronic track and the punkrockers of the Rum Bar label surrounding her, that brought me the image. Yet they told us it was hard, but they were wrong very much is worthwhile paying attention to. Ela Minus sings softly and totally undercooled with the aid of some electronics. Everything around her comes from digital machines, sequencers, synths, beats. What it does all together is create something mysterious that I have to admit I like listening to. Somewhat to my surprise, I'll admit, but none the same true. The song is danceable and listenable. If this is to become 20s music there may be something different in store for me than guitar oriented songs only.

Do It. Ken Fox and Knock Yourself Out
The second Rum Bar Records single recently released is Do It, the second single from Ken Fox & Knock Yourself Out. The mini album was already reviewed recently but lets focus on Do It for a few seconds. Do It is the most erratic song on the album. Ken Fox just can't help himself here. He's just has to, there's no self restraint left in him. And it shows. Like I wrote before, Ken Fox is not a singer. that shows the most in this song. Enthusiasm gets him a long, long way here. This song is one energy burst, with a great guitar solo explosion in the middle. Do It has an inner power of drums and bass over which a tight rhythm guitar keeps it all together and the lead guitar can fly off in little riffs and melodies whenever it likes. "Just do it do it do it do it!


Ydin. Out of Skin
We started out this singles edition of this blog with music dreams are made of. We end with it as well. Out of Skin is familiar to the followers of this blog by now. It all started with a support slot at the The Stream release party in 2018. Now circa two years later, in a totally different world, the band has released a new single.

And what a single it is. The band moves further than it has before. The music has been brought back to bare necessities. Sparse guitar notes, and loads of atmosphere. The typical sound of the harp moves in and out of the song. There is no pretending this is a traditional single. Out of Skin plays with the mood of its listener, adding a little eeriness and suspense. Where Merry Go Round is the safe and secure happy ever after ending of the fairy tale, Ydin is the part just before things go horribly wrong. "I'm on my way" Wouter Mol sings, "Deeper than the deepest sea", not the place one wants to be on an average day. Suspense is all around.

Musically I hear faint traces of Zita Swoon and other Belgian bands, while there certainly are influences from more dance oriented, electronic music. Together Out of Skin shows it has moved in an incredibly interesting direction. I can't wait to hear more, as soon as possible.

And just when I thought I had finished my reviews I discovered:

I Contain Multitudes. Bob Dylan
A second Bob Dylan track with new original music in a few weeks. It suggests a new album is under way. I understand that 'Murder Most Foul' is Dylan's first number 1 hit in the U.S. Well, it wasn't here, I can tell you.

I Contain Multitudes is more in line with the songs I have heard from Dylan in the last twenty years. Again though, this is a bare and essentials only song. This time with guitars over which Dylan croaks his lyrics but a little less so than usual. Again the song holds numerous references to other artists. We had The Beatles, this time The Rolling Stones gets its reference as do e.g. Anne Frank and Edgar Allan Poe.

As bare as the song is, in this it is in line with 'Murder Most Foul', again it simply is o.k. Dylan delivers once more. He seems to have given up on drums, percussion and bass. Having him in the speakers seems to be enough, as the music is purely for accompaniment, not to build or flash out a song. It fills small holes around the lyrics, in which an old man sings about "All The Young Dudes".

Keep this level up Mr. Dylan I will be buying a new album on release for the first time since 'Love & Theft'.

Wo.

Anywhere But Here. Habibi

Habibi trok helaas maar weinig aandacht met een geweldig debuut, maar revancheert zich met een fantastisch tweede album dat meedogenloos verleidt en de fantasie eindeloos prikkelt.

Habibi, het is een naam die bij niet iedereen een belletje zal doen rinkelen, maar wat heeft de band uit New York met Anywhere But Here een fantastisch album afgeleverd. Habibi begint bij de Phil Spector girlpop uit de jaren 60, maar neemt je via garagerock, Surf en new wave mee naar het heden. De popliedjes van het New Yorkse viertal liggen bijzonder lekker in het gehoor, maar zijn ook veel spannender dan je bij vluchtige beluistering zult vermoeden. De prachtige zang en koortjes zorgen voor de verleiding, terwijl het gitaarwerk constant het avontuur opzoekt. De diepere onderlagen van de muziek van Habibi bevatten nog veel meer invloeden, waardoor dit album groeit en groeit. Habibi, onthouden die naam.

Habibi is een band uit Brooklyn, New York, die al een jaar of negen bestaat. De uit vier vrouwen bestaande band debuteerde in 2014 met een bijzonder lekker klinkend debuut dat een punky attitude combineerde met een vleugje Motown, Surf, Bananarama en Phil Spector girlpop.
 
De band werd destijds op één hoop gegooid met bands als Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast en noem ze allemaal maar op. Het is een hoop waarop de concurrentie moordend is, waardoor het titelloze album van Habibi in 2014 niet heel veel deed. Ik kan met terugwerkende kracht concluderen dat dit werkelijk doodzonde is, want het debuut van de band uit Brooklyn is een fantastisch debuut.
 
Het is een debuut dat duidelijk anders klinkt dan de albums van de bands die in 2014 als vergelijkingsmateriaal werden aangevoerd en het is een debuut dat destijds uitvoerig bejubeld had moeten worden. Ik heb dat helaas niet gedaan, al heb ik het album wel in handen gehad, en stond daar helaas niet alleen in.
 
Inmiddels zijn we zes jaar verder en is het tijd voor eerherstel. Habibi keerde deze week terug met haar tweede album Anywhere But Here en ook dit is een geweldig album. Sterker nog, het is een album dat nog veel beter is dan het zo ondergewaardeerde debuut.
 
De vier vrouwen uit Brooklyn zijn de invloeden van hun helaas zo genegeerde debuut gelukkig niet vergeten. Ook Anywhere But Here staat vol met aanstekelijke popliedjes, die hier en daar citeren uit de archieven van de garagerock, punk en new wave. Anywhere But Here klinkt met enige regelmaat als Phil Spector girlpop met The Undertones als begeleidingsband en het jonge Bananarama als achtergrondkoortje en dat klinkt verrassend lekker.
 
Het is muziek die ook niet zo gek ver verwijderd is van die van Vivian Girls en al haar soortgenoten, maar Habibi klinkt toch net wat anders. Dat hoor je in de gitaren die steeds weer andere invloeden verkennen en een stiekeme voorliefde voor Surf hebben, maar je hoort het vooral in de songs waarin het New Yorkse viertal gas terugneemt en dat gebeurt op Anywhere But Here met grote regelmaat.
 
Habibi klinkt dan net wat psychedelischer en verwerkt bovendien op subtiele wijze invloeden uit de muziek uit het Midden Oosten in haar muziek. Het wordt gecombineerd met bijzonder lekker in het gehoor liggende popliedjes en prachtige koortjes, waarin de stemmen elkaar prachtig aanvullen.
 
Anywhere But Here heeft de zwoele verleiding van perfecte 60s pop, het stekelige van 70s en 80s new wave en combineert deze invloeden met alles dat momenteel voorhanden is. Door de lekker in het gehoor liggende popliedjes verleidt Anywhere But Here van Habibi meedogenloos, maar het tweede album van de band uit New York is ook een razend spannend album dat steeds weer wat moois voor je in petto heeft.
 
Voor mij springen het veelkleurige gitaarwerk en de vocalen er uit, maar als je wat dieper in de muziek van Habibi duikt blijf je mooie dingen horen. Het doet misschien nog wel het meest denken aan de Amerikaanse band La Luz, die in 2018 imponeerde met het prachtige Floating Features, maar het nieuwe album van Habibi is nog wat veelzijdiger en spannender.
 
Het valt op het moment niet mee om op te vallen met een nieuw album, maar na het over het hoofd zien van het geweldige debuut van Habibi kunnen we dit veel betere tweede album echt niet laten liggen.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Anywhere But Here hier beluisteren en kopen:

https://habibitheband.bandcamp.com/album/anywhere-but-here



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

925. Sorry

Sort of out of the blue Sorry presents itself to the world with its debut album 925. Title and band name can almost not be more elementary. The title even without letters and anybody's guess what the true meaning of the title is. And sorry for what?, is the question that comes to mind. Certainly not the music Sorry presents as there is little wrong in that department.

At a certain point in life it is unavoidable that the references, experiences, knowledge lapped up along the way of life's lanes, high and byways, sets adults apart from young adults releasing their first records. Lyrically at times it becomes hard)er) to impossible to relate as the doubts, angsts and fears adolescents experience have been left behind for other doubts, etc., but also traded in for certainties and rock steady believe in better trained parts of oneself.

This is certainly the case between myself and Asha Lorenz and Louis O'Bryen the two singers and songwriters of Sorry. The lyrics of course are only half of the story: the music being the other. Those who keep an open ear for good music, always get what is good, better, best in the genres they like or grow into. This is what is happening between 925 and me.

Lorenz and O'Bryen together with bass player Campbell Baum, synth player Marco Pini and drummer Lincoln Barrett present an album that is not so much exciting (certainly not in the traditional sense of lots of noise and energy) as it is guarded, at times even pseudo disinterested. From this mid-tempo seemingly torpid atmosphere Sorry starts to work. Step by step a song is built up with details making the songs come alive. The only thing needed to make them sparkle is a cloth and some good old old-fashioned Silvo polisher.

Take your time and you will find there is so much to discover on 925. Starting with a quote from Tears for Fears' 'Mad World' in opening song 'Right Around The Clock'. Musically Sorry builds on decades of alternative rock bands, starting in the 80s up to Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys and Blood Red Shoes where the more rocking elements are concerned. These little eruption that can burst through the musical fabric to be pushed back swiftly. Also the male - female singing between O'Bryen and Lorenz reminds me of Blood Red Shoes, although here they fall in and out of a song constantly. It is far harder to guess who wrote a song here. What Sorry holds back on, is the all out exuberance that define the firsts albums of the 00s star bands just referred to.

I find myself coming back to 925 for days in a row now. The album, despite having many, potentially, too alternative moments that could drive a slightly more song, pop-oriented, music lover, which in the end I am, away. 925 does not. There are so many excellent moments returning in the melody, songcraft and strength, that it becomes irresistible. There are little doubts as to what my next new LP is going to be.

925 Is one of those debut albums a band can only dream of. One where everything seems to fall in its right place. One that puts enormous pressure on the second. The best bands continue and come up with another, others falter under the pressure. For Sorry that could be years away, but who knows. Due to Corona there's no touring so loads of time to work on that second album without all the usual distraction of touring, shows, interviews and then some more. Use it! With 925 Sorry has put itself on the map and caught my full attention. An album for the year end list of 2020 for certain.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy 925 here:

https://sorrybanduk.bandcamp.com/album/925


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