Frijid Pink "Frijid Pink" 1970 (CD reissue 1991)****

Another surprise choice by random selection that forced me to re-appraise this band I hadn't initially given proper due. Even before buying this CD, I've had this 7' single which I bought Lord knows when or where but it must have been really cheap because I'm not really into buying singles. Anyway, that 7' had "House Of The Rising Sun" B/W a cover of Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel". I was drawn to the novelty of hearing these hard rock versions of overfamiliar oldies, and even though I later bought the CD reissue of Frijid Pink's debut I put it aside and played the single instead, since that already contained the two songs that stood out on first listen of the CD. That was a mistake, albeit a rather common one - Frijid Pink (according to a former band member, the name meant to convey "cold excellence") were condemned to one hit wonder status: their version of "House Of The Rising Sun" made the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic selling more than a million copies, but subsequent releases either just made the Top 100 or failed to chart at all. Certainly, their version of the song falls short of the classic one by The Animals; but not by that wide a margin. Singer Tom Beaudry gives a formidable performance, and Gary Ray Thompson's heavy guitar is dominant throughout, but to me the hero of this version is drummer Rick Stevers who drives the song as surely as Carmine Appice did with Vanilla Fudge covers of contemporary pop classics. The problem being with FP's most famous song sounding too similar to VF, a band renowned for covering other people's music, when in fact they were much more original. Actually, the rest of the album consists of original compositions, while "House Of The Rising Sun" was an afterthought, recorded at the studio as a filler to bring the album duration up to the usual LP standards. The arrangement is too good to be an on-the-spot thing, so I guess it must have been part of their live repertoire; every band has these covers they play live but rarely include in their albums, but such was the quality of this specific accidental recording that it became the band's signature tune. But what of the rest of the album? Well, most of the songs are blues based: "I'm on My Way" is a rockabilly boogie, while "Drivin' Blues" sounds like a heavier John Mayall or maybe Savoy Brown, and "Boozin' Blues" is a slow blues number with great guitar and lots of piano, reminiscent of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. This blues influence had me convinced that FJ must have been British; when I looked up their bio for the purpose of this review I was really surprised to learn they actually came from Detroit, Michigan. But then, that also makes sense: Detroit at the time produced some really loud and heavy rock bands like MC5, Stooges, SRC, Amboy Dukes, Grand Funk etc. The more garagey tracks with loud drums and distorted fuzz guitar certainly belong to that family: "Crying Shame", "Tell Me Why" and "End of the Line". Somehow FP aren't committed to history as paragons of the Detroit sound like the aforementioned bands. They must have been quite popular at the time, though, as apparently visiting bands like Led Zeppelin actually used to open for FP when they played in Detroit. Opener "God Gave Me You" is a soulful quasi-ballad with a bit of a Southern rock feel, while, at 7,5 minutes, "I Want to Be Your Lover" is the longest track here, a heavy blues jam a la Free or indeed Led Zeppelin. The CD reissue adds two bonus tracks, previously released on 7' single only: "Heartbreak Hotel" is an exciting hard rock rendition of the old Elvis chestnut, and "Music for the People" a soulful Southern rock-style ballad with a gospel-like chorus. All in all, this would make for a fine addition to one's record collection - that is, if one's interested in that late 60's-early 70's heavy blues/prog sound; Frijid Pink is very good, but very much of its time all the same. The band went on to produce a few more albums which I now realize are quite respected in psychedelic/prog rock collectors' circles. So not a "one hit wonder" at all, as I thought they were. I'll investigate them further, and let you know of my findings...

***** for House of the Rising Sun

**** for I'm on My Way, Drivin' Blues, Tell Me Why, End of the Line, Boozin' Blues, Heartbreak Hotel, Music for the People

*** for God Gave Me You, Crying Shame, I Want to Be Your Lover

Fontaines D.C. "Skinty Fia" 2022****

I recently saw Fontaines D.C. live for the first time at Amsterdam's AFAS stage - a sold-out two-day event, as befits one of the best new (or the most hyped, take your pick) bands of the last decade. Their dynamic performance lived up to my expectations, especially cocky kilt-wearing frontman Grian Chatten who was shouting the lyrics while jumping and prancing up and down the stage. Not a great communicator; he hardly spoke a few words to the audience, but he did try to get them to shout "Free Palestine" during his performance of "Too Real" off the band's debut. A risky move, seeing as this was at the time a touchy subject in Amsterdam, after the ruckus with the street fights between Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans and pro-Palestine youths a few days prior to the concert. To make their feelings more clear, the band also hang a big Palestinian flag onstage in front of their console. Since that fact wasn't mentioned in any of the reviews of previous day's concert, I suppose they had just become aware of recent events, and that -true to the fighting spirit of their lyrics- they spontaneously decided to ignore possible backlash and come out in support of what they believe to be a just cause.

If I'm not mistaken, Skinty Fia found the band living in London instead of their native Dublin. Not that it's in any way an English album: if Dublin was the protagonist of their debut Dogrel, this one deals with Ireland from an expat's point of view. Don't expect any jigs and reels, though - the closer they get to old-timey folk is the accordion on the forlorn ballad "The Couple Across the Way". But they do, for the first time, include songs with Gaelic titles: apparently "Skinty Fia" is an odd swearword that translates as "the damnation of the deer"; the title track has a pure 80's goth intro with low bass, dancefloor beat and sharp guitar bursts. The second Gaelic-titled track is opener "In ár gCroíthe go deo" (meaning "in our hearts forever"). It was inspired by a recent story Grian read about; a British woman of Irish heritage was to be buried with a gravestone bearing this phrase but the Church of England prohibited it, because any use of the Irish language was considered "too political". The meaning of the lyrics isn't perfectly clear to me, but the song is defined by a beautiful and somewhat rueful chorus, including nice harmonies. The band's sound is usually described as "post-punk", which sounds correct if somewhat vague. There are similarities to 80's bands like Joy Division, The Cure, and The Fall - the latter because of the half-sung half-spoken vocals. The band also acknowledge a debt to My Bloody Valentine and their shoegaze brethren; this is more evident in this specific album, which comes off as more atmospheric and less punky than its predecessors. Not forgetting some electronic and hip hop elements, as well as a Pogues influence - at least concerning the lyricism, poetic mood, and everpresent underlying Irishness. My favorite tracks here also include the Smiths-like single "Jackie Down the Line" as well as "Roman Holiday" and "I Love You" - like Cure in one of their relatively sunnier days. I'm less impressed by their hazy atmospheric pieces "Bloomsday" and "Nabokov", though they work well as closers of each LP side. I rarely come across an album which I can tell will stand the test of time, but Skinty Fia has, in my opinion, "future classic" written all over it.

**** for In ár gCroíthe go deo, Big Shot, Jackie Down the Line, Roman Holiday, Skinty Fia, I Love You

*** for How Cold Love Is, Bloomsday, The Couple Across the Way, Nabokov

The Rolling Stones "Hackney Diamonds" 2023***

Now, I know y'all have been waiting for more than a year to read my review of The Rolling Stones' latest album. Is it worth buying? Well, I guess that by now its price has dropped significantly, so that may well be the case. You know what? when I'm listening to this on my stereo, I'm thinking to myself "this isn't half bad", basically it's way better than anyone could reasonably expect from a bunch of geriatric rockers. But afterwards this simile came to my mind: you know how there are tricks one can use to make stale bread edible again, delicious even? (If you don't, just ask Marina). Well, that's how it feels: like I just ate some stale bread and enjoyed it. Just how was this miracle achieved? First of all, it's the raw materials: Jagger's ageless vocal, Keef's riffs, the underrated Ron Wood. Sure, Charlie has left the planet, but there's a substitute for everything nowadays, isn't there? Just look at your supermarket aisle: vegan "cheese", "chicken" nuggets, "steaks" etc (no disrespect meant for Steve Jordan, but he's a hired hand, not a Rolling Stone). In the end, it's all a matter of finding the right cook: enter 33-year old Andrew Watt, who graduated effortlessly from producing popstars like Justin Bieber and Rita Ora to 80-year old rock legends like The Stones, Ozzy, and Iggy Pop. One may doubt his credentials, but one thing's evident: the guy is like a great forger; one who may not be able to paint a masterpiece but has studied Van Gogh's technique well enough that he can produce a new version of "sunflowers" and pass it up as an original work by the master himself. Case in point, opener "Angry": a typical Stones rocker reminiscent of classics like "Start Me Up" or "You Got Me Rockin'". Some may call this a "return to form", others "self-plagiarism". Same difference, really. It sounds good, but I have the nagging feeling that it could have been written by an AI with access to a Rolling Stones greatest hits compilation. I much prefer the attempts to slightly modernize The Stones' sound: "The Whole Wide World" and "Mess It Up" remind me of British 90's indie bands - let's say Ocean Colour Scene and Franz Ferdinand, respectively. It sort of takes me back to Bridges To Babylon; not among The Stones' best albums, but the last one in which they tried to sound contemporary. "Bite My Head Off" is reminiscent of another time The Stones tried to follow the spirit of the age, albeit with better results: back in '78, they wrote a number of punk-inspired songs for Some Girls. They rocked OK, but didn't sound entirely convincing then, and sound even less convincing now. The best part of this punkish tune is a distorted bass guitar solo played by... Paul McCartney - the Beatles vs. Stones antipathy always was a media myth, Paul's on good terms with The Stones, he's even the one who suggested they use Watt as a producer. "Live By The Sword" is another unconvincingly aggressive hard rocker. It nevertheless has the distinction of reuniting Mick and Keith with The Stones' original rhythm section for the first time in decades. Not only is it one of two tracks here featuring Charlie Watts on drums (recording sessions started in 2019, when he was still in good health) but Bill Wyman also briefly rejoins the band on bass after 30 years of absence. To top it all up, Elton John makes a cameo on piano. "Get Close" and "Driving Me Too Hard" are a couple of mid-tempo rockers that fall under the previously mentioned self-plagiarizing category. Recognizable as The Stones, yet utterly forgettable. Ballads include "Depending On You", the obligatory Keith Richards lead vocal "Tell Me Straight", and acoustic country "Dreamy Skies" - nice slide guitar and harmonica here. Which brings us to the undisputed album highlight "Sweet Sounds Of Heaven". A gospel-style tour de force sounding like a (heavenly, indeed) cross between "Wild Horses" and "Gimme Shelter". Jagger delivers his most soulful vocal in ages, while famous guests rise to the occasion: Lady Gaga on vocals channels the spirit of Aretha, while Stevie Wonder on keyboards channels... well, himself; what more can one ask for? The album closes with a faithful acoustic cover of Muddy Waters' "Rolling Stone Blues", the song that gave the band their name. It's their most honest song here, and among the most satisfying - just as their previous blues covers album was among their best of the last 40 years, an obvious labor of love instead of yet another attempt to resurrect old glories. If "Rolling Stone Blues" turns out to be The Stones' last song on their last LP, it'd be taking them full circle and make for a perfect career closure. That's nevertheless probably not the case; according to Jagger, there are many more songs left at the cutting room floor, waiting to be re-worked and polished until they sign as brightly as the ones included in Hackney Diamonds. As there should be; after all the band hadn't made an album of new material in 18 years, they're bound to have written more songs than these. The question is: do we really want to hear the ones that didn't make the initial cut? When it took so much time and effort, famous guests and hotshot producers, to make a simply decent album from the top-tier of the available songs? Or is it time to quit? Well, people have been asking that last question for 40 years, and the answer has always been NO. My guess is it'll continue to be the same, at least as long as Mick and Keith are still physically able to sing and play guitar.

***** for Sweet Sounds of Heaven

**** for Angry, Whole Wide World, Mess It Up, Rolling Stone Blues

*** for Get Close, Depending on You, Bite My Head Off, Dreamy Skies, Live by the Sword, Driving Me Too Hard, Tell Me Straight