I was listening to the Fresh Blood playlist on Apple Music as I often do when I am working. Somehow people screaming at me helps me concentrate. The first some I came across was this song by Finnish band Luna Kills. It really got my attention. The song combines a nu-metal sensibility with a delightful pop edge. I love pop songs that go grrr and this one for sure does.
Lead vocalist Lotta Ruutiainen has a delightful pop/jazz tinge to her voice but there is also some screaming for the fry fans. The band explains,
“sugar rush” captures the drive to pursue happiness in the face of persistent self-doubt. Centered around the struggle to find happiness despite a constant sense of never measuring up, the song delves into the pressures of a world that demands overachievement and monetization of everything, ultimately draining the joy from passions that once gave life meaning.”
Their debut album DEATHMATCH, set for a worldwide release on April 4, 2025,via SharpTone Records.
Check the song out in the embed video above or in the Fresh Blood playlist below.
Electronic music can often be a miserable affair. Sometimes artists equate electronic with experimentation to the point that the outcome can be somewhat hard listening. These albums can be almost like an endurance test to see if you can get to the end. Happily, this record is nothing like that. DAT Politics’ Blitz Gazer is fun with a capital “F”.
DAT POLITICS
BLITZ GAZER
Sub Rosa
2012-04-24
This French electro-pop duo comprises of Claude “Datgirl” Pailliot & Gaetan C. Collett who have been in existence as (an influential) electronic outfit since 1999. There are obvious parallels with Daft Punk and Kavinsky in the sense that they come from the same part of Europe and their focus is on heating up the discotheque. However, to say that they sound like the aforementioned acts doesn’t quite nail it. Their quirkiness alone probably brings them closer to the work of Sébastien Tellier. These are idiosyncratic pop tunes that aren’t really meant to be critiqued, only danced to.
Pop music really never sounded so “pop” and disposable. It is lacking substance for sure, but who on earth would care about that? This is music for dancing and grinning like a shot fox while you are at it. You will find evidence of some electronic experiments but there is absolutely nothing po-face about this record. The reason for this is simple; it has the 1980s writ LARGE all over its smiley dancey little face. You can’t help yourself but enjoy it.
With Blitz Gazer DAT Politics have taken the cheesier elements of ’80s dance music (Giorgio Moroder, Harold Faltemeyer, etc.) and poured on some freshly-melted fromage of their own. The more serious songs like “Sourcloud” are blissfully short (clocking in at under 2 minutes) for the rest they throw in all kinds of fun stuff for example the Star Trek “red-alert” noises on “Switch On” (also by the way one of the more serious tunes).
For the most part we are treated to instrumentals with the occasional sampled voice or barely indecipherable person-noise (like in the fabulously daffy “Hypnotricks”) but every once in a while there is something like a real song. However, when this happens (like on “Melt Down”) it appears to have happened almost by accident, as if the band have dropped their guard for a brief moment or two. No worries, they soon regain their composure and return to bonkers ascending chords and tunes that have slightly jammed feel about them. It is these moments that make the record really worthwhile.
What’s interesting is that by all accounts this album is a more mature and subdued affair than in previous outings. Phrases such as “sugar-fed optimism” have been used to describe the band’s output in the past. As this album is clearly something of a hyperactive teenager of a record, one shudders to think what the band might have sounded like going through the “terrible twos”. What must this pair sound like live?
All in all if you are looking for a record to liven up your party or even to combat a long and desperately boring drive Blitz Glazer should be your weapon of choice. A perfect pop performance.
Those Gorillaz have returned in the guise of a completely different primate. This one comes complete with a tale and a fully furred opera in tow. Who would have thought that Damon Albarn had an opera in him? In fairness, it is not strictly speaking an opera. It is a spectacle theatre piece that has more in common with Cirque du Soleil than Glyndebourne. Albarn and fellow gorilla Jamie Hewlett have created a nine-scene show that is a mixture of acrobatics, kung fu, lush sets, and the music contained on this recording. This stage production has proved to be quite popular in the United Kingdom. The dear old BBC adapted a track, complete with a specially made Jamie Hewlett animation, to promote their coverage of the Beijing Olympics. Furthermore, tickets soon go on sale for a special run at the O2 “Millennium” Dome, just like Prince. Things are looking good.
MONKEY
JOURNEY TO THE WEST
XL
2008-09-23
The show is wholly inspired by a 16th century Chinese novel by Wu Cheng’en. His book was made famous to every British schoolboy in the late 1970s by a live action version called Monkey that was made in Japanese but dubbed into English by the BBC. It was required viewing in those days, and most 40-year old children still have a soft spot for it in their hearts, I’m sure. Hence Albarn’s interest; hence the show’s popularity.
So much for the stage show, what about the record? Journey to the West the album is confusingly a “soundtrack” based upon, but not a direct recording of, the musical. Quite how that makes it a soundtrack is beyond me. It is a compilation of 22 vignettes that presumably evoke a scene in the stage production, most of which clock in at around the two-minute mark. The tracks don’t quite stand up on their own, unsupported by the spectacle of the 70 Chinese acrobats and martial artists cavorting on sets designed by the creator of Tank Girl. But as with everything, there are exceptions to this sweeping generalization.
The brevity of the songs may cause consternation, but is often a blessing. Some of the tracks on this release are almost painful to listen to. “Confessions of a Pig” springs to mind with its guttural vocal littered with glottal stops. It sounds as if this particular pig smoked 40 cigarettes a day. “The White Skeleton Demon” starts off like Mussorgsky and ends up like the shower scene in Psycho. Soundtrack recordings are designed to partner the visuals, whether they are film or theatre soundtracks. Without the visual aspect there is a dimension missing.
“Heavenly Beach Banquet” and “Monkey Bee” are the tracks that would be considered “songs” in a parallel world where Damon Albarn wasn’t trying to destroy every last centimetre of cool that he once had. There once was a time that this boy from Leytonstone could do no wrong musically, but now he works really hard to erode the pop icon status that the media awarded him. A fictitious simian pop band here, a world music record there, and add a dash of supergroup with no name for good measure. Who needs fame when he’s got art? With this recording he is clearly at it again. After the ten or so listens I have given this recording, I am still hard pressed to think of an occasion when I would willingly play it. Unless you have actually seen the show, this record makes no musical sense.
The cynical among you (I know you are out there) would probably describe this as a cash-in release. It’s a souvenir record that amounts to little more than an audible programme that affords you the pleasure of reliving the event in the leisure of your own home. Safe in the comfort of your own surroundings, you can pause the tunes while you take a bathroom break, instead of holding it in for fear of missing something. At home, you can skip the stuff you don’t like, instead of stifling a yawn in order not to appear uncultured. At home you can file the thing away, leave it there, and put its purchase down to experience.
How this album will fare in parts of the world where it is impossible to see the show is uncertain, of course. Perhaps it will act as a prelude in these territories, albeit one that may scare off some punters. I will wager that fans of Blur will buy this regardless and enjoy it whether they like it or not. Other pop fans are more likely to see through the emperor’s new clothes and call this for what it is: mostly weak but with a couple of monkey magic moments.
Lisa Cerbone has a gentle, childlike voice and with We Were All Together she has created an album that is somewhat evocative of Tanya Donelly or Kristin Hersh.
LISA CERBONE
WE WERE ALL TOGETHER
Ocean Music
2008-04-08
Every aspect of this package — from the case with its lyric adorned fine art photo cards to the crystal clear production — is finely crafted and exudes quality. One wonders why this lady is not more well known as this is her fourth release in the last eight years. We Were All Together is a collection of ten melancholy vignettes held against backdrop of stark hush. Cerbone tingles the spine of the listener with this intimate and quite beautiful recording. This quality is most evident in tunes such as “Change the Ending” and the opening track “Humming”. This record is of course not for everyone. It tends to be a little over-serious at times and leaves you feeling quite bereft once it is over. This last point also one of the positive aspects of this CD. After all if art does not engage you then what is the use of it?
This miniature review was originally published on popmatters.com
It is a sad day when you have to consider the possibility that you are old and no longer understand young people’s music. To this reviewer Mud’s Yearbook contains 13 songs that, with one exception, all sound identical. The album appears like it was created by the corpses of Real Big Fish with the ska influences ripped forcibly from their cold dead hands fronted by Avril Lavigne. It is Californian punk by checklist; repetitive riff… check, amusing self deprecating lyrics… check, brass section… check. I could go on.
One song stands out because it dares to be different. “Psycho” could easily be from a film soundtrack (I’ll leave the cynics among you to say that it is deliberately targeting such a market). With a lush orchestra arrangement it comes over like a Bond theme, only with less subtlety. It really is quite bombastic and audacious, even if it doesn’t really appear to have a chorus. However, after the chorus overload of the rest of the album it comes as a welcome reprieve. This song is worth the price of a single-track download but the rest of the album doesn’t really do anything remarkable. Or maybe I just don’t get “young people’s music” anymore.
This review was originally posted to popmatters.com
The Posies were a power-pop outfit from Washington State that didn’t so much set the world on fire as give it a nasty Chinese burn. They did, however, produce some mighty fine tunes and at least one classic album, Frosting On the Beater. (The two remaining original members, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, are also at least as famous for being instrumental in the reformation of Big Star.) The clumsily titled Beautiful Escape… Is Coming Right Along is a seven track sampler of the forthcoming 45 track (3 CD) album containing cover versions spanning the entire career of The Posies. Homage albums such as this often provide new and interesting takes on the source material. Unfortunately, that cannot be said of this release. The artists on this selection do have a good crack at the songs but hardly any of them do anything that might be deemed original. Of the seven tracks present on this CD only Darling Cait’s version of “Precious Moments” and Jim Protector’s “Coming Right Along” really stand up to any scrutiny. The others just sound like pale imitations rather than the intended tribute. The fact that three of the tunes on this collection come from Frosting On the Beater speaks volumes. While the full 3 CD set might tell a different story, this sampler showcases the songs of that greatest album by The Posies and suggests that you might be better off listening to that instead.
If I could take a Being John Malkovich-type trip through the cobwebs and the undoubtedly dark places that reside in Singley’s cranium, I’m sure I would find a strange and scary place. Nonetheless, it would be bizarrely coated in some kind of sugary substance, not unlike the shell of a headache pill. If Lovingkindness is really anything to go by, despite it being a scary place, I would also find it quite an entertaining one too. This release is littered with pop loveliness that takes its cues from 1960s beats, as well as psychedelia and folk. Lyrically, Singley matches this eclecticism, using a post-modern dictionary that teeters on the edge of being twee. However, by golly, the mixture is like playing drinking games with some long-thought-lost friends while simultaneously having the worst hangover you have ever had in your life. I can’t wait to play it again.
This review was originally posted on pop matters.com
Hardly groundbreaking (but then what is these days) however The Good Luck Joes make the right sort of fist with What Do You Think of That Noise?
THE GOOD LUCK JOES
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT NOISE?
Machine Records
2006/07/26
By and large, if we were to answer the question posed by the title we might answer “mostly harmless”. The Good Luck Joes hopscotch in and out of territory long claimed by Wilco, INXS, and Coldplay. They never quite seem to claim the ground that they want for themselves. One song sees them playing pub rockers another pumps for stadium (candle in the air) sway-a-long. The last song “Butterflies” sounds a lot like that song by David Gray with the incongruous electronic beats. Not that there is anything wrong with being eclectic. I for one am always complaining about how bands these days play it too safe. It is just that What Do You Think of That Noise ends up sounding more like a end of contract retrospective than that “difficult” third album.
Lets be honest, Say Hi To Your Mom is largely the work of one man, and Eric Elbogen’s (for that is his name) fourth foray into the world of pop music is a strange, beguiling affair. Not to say that the previous three (Ferocious Mopes, Numbers and Mumbles, and Discosadness) were run of the mill releases. On the contrary, they were filled with wondrous and peculiar observations on life and relationships, masked as throwaway collage-boy poetry. A fine example of this being “Let’s Talk About Spaceships” from Numbers and Mumbles. This tune sidesteps that uncomfortable silence that preludes the we-need-to-talk-about-our-relationship talk by simply saying “LOOK BEHIND YOU, A SPIDER!”
SAY HI TO YOUR MOM
IMPECCABLE BLAHS
Rebel Group
2006-07-25
This time round Elbogen is preoccupied with the music of the night, Bela Lugosi style. Impeccable Blahs is an album with a concept (rather than a concept album); all of the songs are about vampires and their relationships with their human prey. The sleeve notes are clear that we are not talking about the “… creepy, goth vampires but rather people just like you and me who happen to get their nourishment from drinking blood.” In as much, Elbogen plucks one of literature’s most maligned inventions from the night sky and grounds it in his own version of the real world. Vampires, if Say Hi To Your Mom is to be believed, have feelings and needs just like the rest of us. They are funny too.
Lyrically, this record is as droll as it is observant, cutting in the “reality” of becoming a vampire with the poetic illusion. For example in “Blah Blah Blah” the vampire breathes to his potential victim, “If you want, I’ll give you eternal life. Well not so much life, but have you ever seen a good zombie movie? Well like that, but you’ll be smarter and you’ll stay 23.” It is this mixture of off-the-wall humour and crackingly catchy choruses that make this record such an enjoyable listen. It cannot fail to bring a smile to your face.
The textual content is counterpoint, with stripped bare musical arrangements that are almost so unadorned that they are in places missing altogether. It is at once a mixture of simple guitar lines, undemanding quirky electronic sounds, and lush layered puree. Still, this straightforwardness really kinda works. The music has a sincere personal feel, an honesty that you rarely find in pop these days. This may mean that it doesn’t appeal to everyone’s tastes. Those that like their pop all bloated with multi-part melodies may find this to be an unsatisfying morsel which will not sate their gourmet tastes. These people should get over themselves.
Most things about this release are about simplicity, from the pink artwork barely adorned with a small bat and a kooky drawing of a vamp, to the musical content described above. However, it would be a real mistake to think that this sparseness is detrimental. The structure of the 10 songs on Impeccable Blahs is pretty perfect. They may not be the shiniest buttons in the pop box, but they are the kind that exhibit an unusual quality that makes you want to keep them and take them out every once in a while to look at them.
In the grand scheme of things, this record is unlikely to prevent any wars. However, we live in an unjust world full of evil things that want to suck the life from us, whether that be taxes, Big Brother or vampires. So, any piece of work that goes some way to set the balance right by bringing these things to our attention so that we can snigger at them (well actually ourselves) is, quite frankly, more than welcome.