Lush Lullaby (Denmark) – Demons (sample track from EP Waiting for the Sun)
I was just in the mood for a bit of punk, having had a day from hell, when this came in. How can you not be attracted to punk (or post-punk as we shall discuss later) with an EP title like ‘Waiting for the Sun’?
That title is straight out of the realm of The Carpenters or The Seekers, while the band name is even more so and one of the tracks, which has been released already, ‘Dark Light’, is an oxymoron.
While I was never a fan of punk, it having destroyed the remnants of the (by then overblown) prog rock movement which I was a fan of, that’s what always attracted me to it.
You could never be sure what to expect next and latterly we’ve had Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), who famously encouraged “Anarchy in the UK” saying that he never was an anarchist, and that “anarchy is mind games for the middle class”, and that he actually loved The Queen, while he drifts further to the political centre right and is regarded as some sort of ‘national treasure’ like Stephen Fry, David Attenborough and Michael Palin.
And what are we to make of ‘post punk’, a title which suggests that punk ended, when it patently didn’t any more than ‘post Covid’ means anything?
But enough of the philosophising for tonight.
Lush Lullaby is the ironic moniker of Lars Bredahls’ band. They’re bare, raw and dirty and they definitely won’t be sending you off to sleep. The six track EP was recorded partly in his home studio and partly in the gloriously-named Dead Rat Studio in Aarhus.
“The songs are about life and death and all in between” he says. There’s plenty of paint on that brush.
I selected opening track ‘Demons’ as the sample track because demons sit with punk (and post-punk) like fish does with chips. All rock people have their demons but punk rock bands have those seeking an exorcism, just for a fight.
Speaking of John Lydon I thought it was him singing at first, with a hint of Carter USM’s Jim Bob and even Hazel O’Connor thrown in, and an accent straight out of The Old Kent Road in New Cross.
The bass sounds like a stream train coming out of a tunnel while Lars’ guitar strings must have been completely shredded by the end of the recording.
Then there’s a Status Quo-standard bridge and it’s all topped off with an exhilarating instrumental outro which suggests there’s plenty of musicianship in these lads.
There’s more in the way of melody than you’d expect from punk. Not exactly full-blown hooks but not that far off all the same.
The lyrics? They boil down to “They’ll haunt you…They want you”. (Repeat). He refers to the person he is singing about.
Who is that person? Who knows? Just go along for the ride. It’s fun.
I managed a quick listen to the other tracks. Most are punk-ish but ‘Holy Sky’ is 1990s rock with elements of Oasis while album-closer ‘Just a boy’ might be The Undertones.
The band:
Lars Bredahl: vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards.
Drums and percussion: Flemming Christensen.
Bass guitar: Peter Bjerregaard.
Mixed and mastered by Jacob Bredahl in Dead Rat Studio.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lushlullaby
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lush.lullaby/
