The releases are stacking up again and in a attempt to contain the conflagration, here’s a new format, the Four on the Floor review where we take a brief look at four new releases at once (nothing to do with the drum beat).
Me & Munich (Denmark) – Homesick (single/future album track
Getting underway with Me & Munich, they were here in October with ‘Rumination’, a song about getting lost in your own thoughts that I believed fitted the ‘punk-lite’ XTC category and with a neat line in melody.
This time it’s a new single, ‘Homesick’, released prior to their third album, which will be out in February 2025.
It’s a power ballad which opens with an hypnotic six note guitar riff which you’ll recognise from many soft rock songs from the 1960s. ‘House of the Rising Sun’ immediately comes to mind.
That phrase repeats throughout, interspersed with a powerful Nirvana – like chorus that is representative of the singer’s desire to break free from the pain he no longer wishes to endure, which is the inability to recognise himself for what he is. I assume that means he has been fashioned by societal norms and is unable to exert his individuality.
And it ends in an unexpectedly extravagant symphonic outro populated by guitars, violins and cellos, which carries the energy, weight and gravitas of a ‘November Rain.’
And that final note has the hallmarks of a trademark symphonic metal ending.
The Danes really are specialising in this sort of stuff at the moment and this is a superb example.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meandmunichband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meandmunichband/
The other Band (Norway) – Ghost from the Past (sample track from the album The other Band)
I guess they must be modest guys in The other Band judging from the way they spell ‘other’ as if they are just a bunch of musos hanging about with no great belief that anyone wants to listen to them.
If I’m right they need to revisit that opinion because a quick listen to this track, ‘Ghost from the Past’ from their eponymously titled album which was released on 29th November tells me that they have developed a signature sound that demands attention.
They describe themselves as being in a rock landscape, but with an offer that includes “everything from pop rock, via slightly more extravagant rock songs to short garage punk stuff.”
‘Ghost from the Past’ doesn’t require an intense listening experience like the previous track here does. Rather, it’s a good ol’ rocker that does stray into ‘extravagant’ territory, by way of immediately catchy melodies, clear syncopation between lead and rhythm guitars, its energy, and a neat extended guitar solo that acts as the bridge.
There’s a hint of Americana about it too, that won’t do it any harm if they get airplay over in the US of A.
I imagination they are quite a spectacular live band. Rock as it used to be.
The other Band comprises:
Harry van der Werf – Vocals
Dennis van Dongen – Lead guitar
Onar Kjetil Barrøy – Rhythm guitar
Kenneth Stiansen – Bass guitar
Lars Marius Dalane – Drums
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063664643818
Barry Steel (Sweden) – Quit Ahead (single/future album track)
Quitting while ahead is something I’d cherish but I’ve a long way to go yet before attaining that status.
Not so with Barry Steel, the brainchild of Melker Ewertson, who is also a member of the Swedish indie band the Crescents, and producer Oscar Beckman.
Together they create dreamy art rock and have made a name for themselves on the Swedish capital’s underground scene, with plenty of interest being shown from abroad, too.
During my first listen to ‘Quit Ahead’ I had no idea how to classify Barry Steel and I suggest that all readers prepare themselves for that eventuality and that they are going to have to spin this one several times just to get a handle on it. There is much going on.
There’s art and glam rock, 80’s electro/synth pop, very Bowie-like lyrics and vocal delivery, instrumentation that sounds like a battalion of Theremins and an almighty outro which is supposed to represent the realisation of living an unsustainably destructive life and the shame of quitting.
At the same time, there is the feeling that this is what life should look like for a young artist…to which I agree and can only add “destruct on,” Barry.
A great song. I would absolutely love to see this played live.
We currently have no social media links for Barry Steel. They will be added if and when discovered.
Marble Raft (Sweden) – To have and to hold and to break (single/future album track + video)
When we ran the rule over dream rock practitioners Marble Raft in October they were lyrical about exploring a new and unwelcoming city in the single ‘Rites of Passage’. And when I saw the title of this follow up single, which will also feature on their debut album ‘Dear Infrastructure’, which is set for release in the spring of 2025, I dreaded that they had come a cropper as we say here.
‘To have and to hold and to break’ does suggest some sort of abuse; a film starring a gun-toting Vinnie Jones. Or, I dread to say, a Nordic Noir cop drama.
But fear not, it is merely a representation of their continuing journey into this oddball place in which an unknown neon power somewhere in the pulsating heart of the city irresistibly draws them in to undertake a “feverish odyssey.”
A lust for discovery overrides all form of reason when they allow themselves to be swept into the roaring night of a city without a name. Sounds like Oldham on a good day but I’d be inclined to name it Eastwood.
They say, “With ‘To have and to hold and to break’ we wanted to capture the feeling of a magical night out in a strange, foreign city. A menacing place where the air still vibrates with anticipation, where anything can happen and you just let yourself be drawn into the chaos.”
They’ve had a video created for this one, by Jonna Laurin.
It’s an interesting video and one that is somewhat disturbing at times. The two main characters are portrayed as innocent young children on an adventure within a ‘Bill & Ben’ (1960s BBC Children’s television programme) cartoon set But I couldn’t get Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights out of my mind, NMC having reviewed a song by that title recently, or a Stephen King novel-inspired film, like Pet Semetary.
It’s all a bit eerie, what with upright walking lions, musical instrument-playing animals and what looks like a Dodo following their trail. I read that a scientist is trying to bring the extinct flightless birds back to life from their DNA, which adds greater poignancy.
But interspersed with all this are shots of a modern building that might be Cyberdyne Systems, and abandoned apartments that could be Chernobyl, as the various animals make their way to the Animal Convention which is being held in this town they have taken over.
This is no cheap filler video any more than it is a casual song. There is deep meaning to all this, which will hopefully become clearer when the full album is released.
A sequel to Orwell’s Animal Farm? Who knows? Watch this space.
Find them on:
Website: https://www.marbleraftband.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarbleRaft
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marbleraftband
