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We're Gonna Laugh About It. Nelson Bragg
Welcome to a trip down to the past. We're Gonna Laugh About It may be the new single and opening song of 'Melodie De Nelson: A Pop Anthology' by Nelson Bragg. The song sounds as if a cupboard containing a bunch of great 1960s records fell over and got mixed up. Taking the best parts of everything at that. Besides, the title alludes to a Serge Gainsbourg song of course. This single is so full of pop feel that my brain almost is unable to take it in. A guitar solo like The Beatles' 'Rain' is followed by a The Byrds style Rickenbacker solo. This single is so fine that Nelson Bragg must have been laughing all the way home after having heard it in the studio for the first time. We're gonna Laugh About It is the kind of song that puts a big smile on your face.
I
came late to punk music, as I was into Pink Floyd at the time. I still
am, but punk music is something I like ever better and especially the
kind of punk with a strong melody. Black & Blue is the kind of song
that delivers, vocally and musically. If anything, it could be a track
on my favourite Social Distortion album 'Sex, Love & Rock And Roll
from 2004. Not so strange considering Social Distortion's guitarist
Jonny 'Two Bags' Wickersham is the song's producer. Greg Antista himself
and all band members all have a long, long track record in punk rock,
while coming from the same town as Social Distortion, Fullerton, Ca. Black
& Blue is simply a great song. It is tight, immediately recognisable
in the pleasantest of ways and then it presents these pointed guitar solos. Only a week
ago, Greg Antista featured on this blog as guitarist of the band Foxy, with the album
'Tonight Tonight' and here he is again. Sounding like a blast from the
past, but so welcome.
Ringlets is a new signing to Flying Nun from New Zealand and shows two faces of itself in its latest single Street Massage. Face one is a stark punk/new wave. Energy is coming from everywhere. It's loud, in your face, haunting, but more importantly full of quality. Face 2 is a modern rendition of The Smiths. Perhaps more in the way of singing than in the music, as the jangly Johnny Marr guitar is certainly missing. Both faces keep my attention totally. In the background of face one there's this voice in the background that is like a huge dog snarling at passers by. Scary in its own way. Ringlets is Arabella Poulsen (bass & vocals), Arlo Grey (drums), László Reynolds (guitar & vocals) and Leith Towers (lead-vocalist). The foursome is under way to release its second album 'The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies)' slated for 27 June. Based on Street Massage that is a moment to be on the look out for.
Another song that brings me back to God knows how long ago. Longer than I care to remember. Songs like Visiting Hours were all over the radio circa 1979. Songs like 'Oliver's Army' or 'On Your Radio'. The Speedways have listened well to what came before and created a song that combines the new wave with the pop that's even older. Standing on the shoulder of legends The Speedways is. Visiting Hours itself is fun and has its own quality. The band is releasing records for some years now and Matthew Julian knows how to write a nice song. With Visiting Hours, available as 7" in several colours, the band enters my universe with a modest bang. Visiting Hours are booked to see to future appointments, as there will be an album later this year.
Speaking of brevity. Geoff Palmer present his new 12" single and if it lasts eight minutes in all, it's long. Everyone knowing the rocker will not be surprised that when putting it on you'll hear punkrock with a big punk flavour in the vein of The Ramones. Enthusiasm is king, quality queen. Songs by Geoff Palmer bring a smile to my face. Partly because of the references to music I loved when growing up and partly because it's good time music. Besides being good, the songs have a head and a tail and in between there's always a great riff, a sharp, pointy guitar solo and The Beatles lick, punkified just a little. Kodak Flash? Those who remember them are no longer young. At best at mind. The EP is full of nostalgia disguised as new songs, that simply jump out of the record. Geoff Palmer has done it again.
More enthusiasm and punkrock. Whimsyland is a band around the concept of a fictional theme park. The band released an album in 2022 called 'Whimsyland'. Now there's a five song 7" single. The band's central person is Chadd Derkins. He works with a band and a host of singers and other musicians. The result is that no song sounds exactly the same. The music though is familiar to all lovers of punk(rock). No song last longer than strictly necessary. Brevity rules, to the point all five songs all are. 'Blurpy The Bumpy Barge' is the example of choice. After a short intro, the band goes off and about one minute later the attraction ride sets you back on shore, having visited pirates and all. The replay at the end is the slow motion version. In between you are rocked and rolled. Satisfaction guaranteed.
More punk. Sex Scenes has released its album 'Everything Makes Me Sick' earlier this month. Let me draw attention to it by reviewing the latest single. It is a raucous affair, where the trio is not holding back. Singer Sarah Turbo's lyrics are directly in your face. Among recent singers, I would put her on a spot together with Amy Taylor of Amyl and The Sniffers. Turbo is a main attraction to Sex Scenes as she is so present. The band keeps up very well. The riffs and chords fly around and the rhythm section is all over the single. Loud and overly present. Just like all songs in the previous two post, the song is short. Clocking under two minutes, I'll Play Along is over before you really got into its groove. There's only one solution: play it again, Sam.
A new band this week and not the first. Brògeal is from Falkirk, Scotland and the members all played in school bands before they formed Brògeal. Now Friday On My Mind is a title that was taken a long, long time ago by The Easybeats, with AC/DC's brothers Young elder brother George as a member. The 2025 Friday On My Mind is nowhere as pumped up and energetic as the 1966 one. This Friday is going to be a relaxed affair after a busy week and not the release of all the energy saved up in the previous five days. Brògeal is Aidan Callaghan: banjo and vocals, Daniel Harkins: guitar and vocals, Sam MacMillan: accordion, Euan Mundie: bass and Luke Mortimer: drums. The band's debut single for PIAS is a more traditional affair in sound than the line up suggests. You will recognise familiar musical outings as presented by U.K. bands in the past years and jangly pop going back to The Smiths, R.E.M. and The Byrds. Brògeal has soaked it all up and gives it back to the world in the form of this pleasant sounding first single.
As you may recall, I was not very enthusiastic about the first single of upcoming Wet Leg album 'moisturizer' called 'catch these first'. With CPR it can both ways. Again, the single does not bounce like nearly all songs did on 'Wet Leg'. The verdict comes out alright, as CPR does come alive later in the song. But again I have the impression that the joy or perhaps more precise the fun and lack of any expectations, the familiar elements that made 'Wet Leg' so good, is missing in CPR. In fact, the song sounds somewhat strained. That does not make it a bad song. There's enough to enjoy in it and especially when the band really gets kicking. The singing through an old-fashioned telephone, even live as you can see in a live clip, is a nice gimmick. However, two singles into Wet Leg's career I was a big fan already. I'm not that enthusiastic into 'moisterizer's pre-releases, unfortunately, but CPR may hail towards a more favourable reception.
We end this week with the new EP by Boston band Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures. On it Smith and band present songs somewhere between serious pop, folk and singer-songwriter as if from the 1970s. In fact, a song like 'Strange Life' could be influenced by The Who on days that Pete Townsend left his electric guitar at home. Think a totally acoustic version of 'Behind Blue Eyes'. In other words, Temporary Circus: Act 1 offers the better kind of pop music. The kind that offers songs you will want to listen to. The songs are delicate and serious. With a layer of guitars, keyboards and a fairly modest rhythm section. Although I must admit that not all Smith's songs that reach me get to me, the five on this EP do. E.g., 'Some Girls' has this beautiful piano part that brings to mind Bruce Hornsby's piano playing in 'The Way It Is'. The combined songwriting skills of Temporary Circus: Act 1 makes for very pleasant listening.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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