ok jolson – for love
Similar artists: The Zombies, David Bowie, Ty Segall, LEISURE
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock
Yeah, yeah. Talent borrows, genius steals. Oscar Wilder was right about a lot of things. But for this, one of his most famous witticisms, he ought to have included a caveat. The genius must put in a hell of a lot of work to know where to steal from, how not to get caught, and most importantly, how not to waste the time of the people he is going to present their work to.
There’s a difference, and I hope that it’s an obvious one, between doing a DJ set a la Grimes, simply pushing play on The Ting Tings’ music, messing up the tempos, and being an artist that has thoroughly investigated the most important moment in music history. There’s a difference between simply outsourcing your work as a musician and painstakingly putting everything together.
ok jolson’s “for love” is a fascinating listen, not least because of the way that the artist manages to take elements from other great works and seamlessly packs them together. The result is the kind of sound that could easily be part of modern radio programming or a contemporary advertisement for jeans. But it’s born out of an appreciation for retro pop. It contains a baritone that is not unlike David Bowie’s 60esque pop arrangements and indie-pop production. It’s cleverly chosen and well put together.
Sans Patrie -¿Para Qué?
Genre: Punk, Pop Punk, Garage Rock
Ever since the electric guitar’s signal got treated to the power of a distorsion pedal we’ve been waiting for great and terrible things to happen. And, in some ways, we are still waiting. Sure, Eddie van Halen has provided us with dimebombs, Jimmy Page has created monstrous electric blues riffs and Jack White has made cheap electric guitars offer the definitive sound of indie-rock. But it just doesn’t feel like enough.
In fact, everyone that has understood the potential of a distorted electric guitar is still waiting and largely being kepy unsatisfied. Most rock musicians pretend that they know more than they do. Sure, there are people who could play you ever every chord change in every key. But judging by the musical output of mot of of these musicians, it’s just wasted effort. Maybe it’s time to go backwards.
Sans Patrie’s “¿Para Qué?” moves back to the sound that provided the original punk bands with a map of where to go… 50s pop singles. Arguably, it’s those singles that offered the definitive voice of pop music and many punk musicians were clever enough to understand it. If it ain’t broke, don’t replace. Sans Patrie provide energy, a fighting spirit and lively backing vocals to the 50s-inspired punk that remains the best sound that you can get out of an electric guitar.
