It turns out that desert rockers also roam the deserted streets of London, just watch the video below. As The Howlers Adam Young (vocals / guitar), Guus ter Braak (bass), and Cameron Black (drums) have already made a few singles – Matador in particular is a strong track – and slowly but surely they are being embraced by more and more music lovers. New single I Don’t Love You All The Time will certainly contribute to that. RIYL The Black Keys, Eagles of Death Metal.
Simplicity, in all its ramshackle glory, is one of the charms of garage rock. That appeal can wear off quickly though when a band’s songwriting is subpar and/or the execution is poor. The Sueves new record is the perfect example of how rewarding it can be when a band challenges itself; when a band is not afraid to go beyond self- or other-imposed boundaries of the genre; when a band invests a little more time in writing and recording music. On Tears of Joy, The Sueves sound more layered, diverse and dynamic than most garage bands, but also in comparison to their past selves. They do so without sacrificing any of the energy and excitement of their earlier work. Mop Bucket is a modern garage rock classic. Short and fast songs like Alexxxa, Find The Right Fit and Stare will draw in punk fans. Other songs (e.g., Deflect The World) move into The Stooges territory. To be sure, the Sueves have created their own enterprise, and never sound like copycats.
Overall, Tears of Joy is a thrilling listen, a kick to the nuts of those who complain that guitar music nowadays is redundant. I am pretty confident that the allure of the record is more likely to expand than wear off upon further listens. That leaves us with one concern. Now that the band has ran out of primary colors for their album covers – red for their debut, blue for their second one and yellow for Tears Of Joy, what will they do next? Based on this record, the Sueves are just getting started.
Bare Wires was an American lo-fi garage rock band that released four albums in the period 2008-2012: Artificial Clouds, Seeking Love, Cheap Perfume, and Idle Dreams. The band was formed by Matthew Melton, who went on to write and play many more catchy songs with Warm Soda and Dream Machine. This week the (digital) compilation Best of Bare Wires was shared online, a collection of 16 songs including the hard to find single Keep Your Cool. My favorite track still is Cheap Perfume, which I played and sang along so many times ten years ago. You can picture it: ‘As you walk into the room, and I smell your cheap perfume’ – irresistible in every way.
The self-titled debut from London (UK) band The Other Ones sounds like it’s from a different era. I cannot put my finger which era exactly though, early eighties perhaps? Anyway, on their best songs, The Other Ones hit that sweet spot between punk, (power)pop, garage and rock-‘n’-roll, with a singer whose voice fits perfectly in this kind of music. A song like Forever Young is waiting to be picked up by Little Steven’s Underground Garage.
Garage rock doesn’t have to sound perfect, raw and energetic fun are more important. In that respect, the idea of using toy instruments for this is not that crazy, as long as it is done with enthusiasm. I am a fan of the Japanese rockin’ toy band Childish Tones (ネモト・ド・ショボーレ and ニシオカ・ディドリー), who have already recorded several catchy songs with singer Beni Usakura (宇佐蔵べに). Watch and listen to the video for awesome track Ask, for example. The new single Country Girl – a Primal Scream cover – offers more energetic fun (fans of the early work of The Limiñanas will probably appreciate this too). You would almost forget that it’s toy guitar music you hear, it is that well done, not childish at all. The song is out now on 7″ vinyl through KiliKiliVilla.
Let’s start the week off right. Seemingly out of nowhere, Joey Rubbish (aka Joe Montanaro) returns with a new two-song single by The Rubs. If you’re not familiar with his work, Rubbish is a master in writing lo-fi bedroom gems at the intersection of 60s pop, garage, rock n roll, and punk – I usually refer to it as lo-fi powerpop. I am not sure how, but Rubbish has that special knack to only write A-side singles. Naturally, I am a big fan. His previous records The Rubs Are Trash (2015) and Impossible Dream (2017) both made my AOTY lists.
Perhaps most surprising about the new single is its length. Usually, Rubbish writes 2 or 3 minute songs. The two new songs are a combined 10 minutes. Despite my short attention span and preference for shorter songs, I think these new songs are excellent. They are even more pop-oriented than the songs on Impossible Dream. I especially like the A-side I Want You. It’s got Keith Richards guitar riffing and the kind of old school synthesizer you used to hear in cheesy movies. It’s SOOOOO catchy. Okay. The Rubs are back, and a new LP on Hozac is in the works. All is well.
What do you do when you discover a killer single from Japan but your Japanese is limited to ‘Arigato’? Google to the rescue!
“恋の予感 stands for Koi no yokan – Japanese word meaning “premonition of love.” This is different than love at first sight. It is knowing, on first meeting, that the two of you are going to eventually fall in love.”
That’s a wonderful title, though I have to respond with: この三曲のシングルの場合、それは一目ぼれです. Fingers crossed that this does in fact translate to ‘In case of this three song single, it is love at first sight’. The Questions are three immaculately dressed females from Okinawa that play garage punkrock with a sixties vibe. Can’t wait to hear more from them!
The band members themselves say that Alternative Radio looks back at the past to look to the future and returns to the primitive punk rock and roll of the 70’s and early 80’s. The likeable Milwaukee duo take off where the local scene left off at the time, taking cue from bands like Oil Tasters, Couch Flambeau, and The Haskels. A revival that I can appreciate, especially because they do it quite well: powerful short songs with effective guitar and drum playing – I particularly enjoy the added piano – and sung raw as it should be. Just listen to Alternative Radio’s debut album To Hell in a Handbasket for yourself.
The first self-titled Sam Coffey And The Iron Lungs record was released a decade ago. Back then, the band sounded like a garage band with a country twang. In the next ten years, the band has made quite the transformation. I first fell for the band with their 2014 album Gates Of Hell, a record that had just the right mix of powerpop, rock-‘n’-roll and garage influences. The band then opted for a bigger sound on their 2018 record, again a self-titled one. Suddenly, here was a record full of fist pumping anthems made for arenas and hockey rinks. Today, the band released their follow up, titled Real One. It is the logical next step for the band. The band sounds more confident, more diverse and more ambitious than ever. The band has always wore its influences on its sleeves, and although this still unmistakingly is Sam Coffey, this one could also appeal to fans of Bruce Springsteen (listen to Magic and Sounds Alright), Thin Lizzy (She Knows), 80’s glam (Back With The Gang and Spirit Of The Radio), and even Billy Joel (15 minutes). If I am not mistaken, Gates of Heaven is the longest track the band ever recorded. It’s a 7 minute rock opera that starts out as a power ballad, turns into a groovy rock song, ultimately ending in fade out with some excellent female backups and group vocals. So yeah, plenty of fun to be had with this record, and plenty to discover upon further listens as well. And thoughout it all, I don’t think Sam Coffey has ever sung this well. You bet I am impressed with this record.
New band alert: Blueponies are a threesome from Aprilia (a small city south of Rome, Italy). The band members started playing together right before COVID-19 hit Italy hard. As soon as the lockdowns allowed it, they recorded four songs which they more or less remembered from those early rehearsals. The result is a fun collection of ramshackle garage pop tunes. The Delivery Romance EP sounds surprisingly focused for a new band whose members have such different musical tastes (“from screamo hc to garage, from stoner to synth powerpop”). I particularly like Delivery Boy and Rich Grrrls – I caught my four year old daughter singing along with its chorus when I first played it (“sometimes I DO like your music, dad”). Final remark by the band: “We love rock and Satan, because God is cool but Satan gives higher tips to the pizza delivery guy.” Noted.
