Ah, Dutch pop at its finest; fun, slightly over-reaching itself, frayed at the edges but with bags of charm in tow.
The Very Sexuals – Post-Apocalyptic Love
http://www.subroutine.nl/ http://www.theverysexuals.com/
Ah, Dutch pop at its finest; fun, slightly over-reaching itself, frayed at the edges but with bags of charm in tow. The opener World War II Rocketeer is a blast, a stomp, a stately Volvo of a pop song, possessing as it does an absolute belter of a chorus. Its successor, Bowie Eyes reveals plenty about the Very Sexuals’ tastes. The main protagonists in this band (Pien Feith, Joep van Son) have never been scared of the ‘Seventies. Indeed when I first heard this LP I was thinking Neil Diamond and Bowie. And you know, when you really think about it, it’s not such a bad thing at all.
There’s something very Seventies about the theme of this record too. Apparently it’s all about world destruction and surviving pockets of Love, and Peace; the stuff Brezhnev and Nixon yapped on about at all those hunting-lodge summits. If you want proof, look at the song titles. Anyway, back to the music…
Wrecked this Century is a frenzied strum-along, sounding like someone’s hipped far too much speed at a hippy campfire. The band’s love of sun-drenched Americana in general is heard in stuff like Billy Idol Look-Alike Contest. There’s something so endearingly trashy about the music, as if every cliché has been put through some kind of Dutch charm filter. Maybe it’s because they play it so straight, maybe there is no irony here at all… Yikes.
Pien Feith’s voice is revealed in all its expressive, smoky glory on Can You Promise Me The Sky Won’t Fall On Us, a hand-clap reflection on destruction. Finn is another quiet moment which leaves us stranded somewhat after that Baroque opening salvo.
Still, if you like pop, get it.
Words: Richard Foster