Erotic Secrets of Pompeii – Osiris at the Large Hadron Collider
Similar artists: Queens of the Stone Age, Franz Ferdinand, Primus, Gang Of Four, Pixies
Genre: Post-Punk
You only get one chance to make a first impression. That’s if you do it wrong. You could always start shouting, spin on the floor in your colourful attire, or drag someone’s mother by the neck. All of these are not bound to make you respected in your community but might work for a rock n’ roll character. That’s the kind of tactic adopted by Erotic Secrets of Pompeii as the band makes its gloriously slovenly return.
There was a brief time in which progressive-rock bands like Yes or Genesis sold out arenas. It didn’t take long for audiences to catch on to the fact that while these bands played music brilliantly, there was little chance of anything exciting or unpredictable happening. Punk groups, on the other hand, could barely play but always delivered a show even if, often, they did so at the expense of their own safety.
Erotic Secrets of Pompeii’s “Osiris at the Large Hadron Collider” sounds like a Broadway show turning into an angry mob. It namechecks ancient Egyptian deities, the Swiss particle collider and it sounds like The Cramps delivering a love song to delinquents and the morally flawed people of the world. It does not contain one second in which one ought to get bored. It sounds like a person rolling on the floor dressed in a banana suit must look like. It’s rocking, campy and just a little bit unfriendly.
The Jürgen Clubs – Daddy Was a Player
Genre: Indie Rock
By the time Karl Ove Knausgaard did finish his colossal books of personal recollections few of his friends and family wanted to speak to him. Like a reality television producer or a TikTok star filming people with a hidden cam, all of them were afraid that their most embarrassing moments would end up in the book of a well-read author. But didn’t Knausgaard own some of those memories, too?
Like the writer, the Danish group, The Jürgen Clubs, are dealing with the issue of loss and with the difficulty of keeping up with tradition and mentioning solely good things about the recently deceased. Rock’ n’ roll has always held impunity over the topics it could discuss in songs but has rarely chosen to use it.
The Jürgen Clubs’ “Daddy Was a Player” could’ve easily been just a tragedy, but the warm indie-rock arrangement, the funny lyrics and the bittersweet vocals make this a kind of dark comedy. Yes, this is a catchy song, but the focus, for the most part, falls on the lyrics. The image of the son collecting the pieces of their father’s life and coming to terms with the fact that parents don’t merely live for their kids is powerful. Plus, adding a nice beat to such topics always helps make it lighter.
