| CD REVIEW Awkward I |
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Band : Awkward I This act is the brainchild of one Djurre de Haan, better known to the public at large (at least in Holland), as the bassist of Alternative Rock Pop act Alamo Race Track (which was a succession of Redivider, which ceased to exist in 2001. as a singer-songwriter, Djurre had nevertheless been active since 2000. He’s done plenty of solo appearances all over Holland, and in 2006 he even got into the finales of the Grote Prijs van Nederland and Eurosonic band contests. Over the years he released the occasional EP, but never a full-length. About a year ago he started work on what was to become his full-length debut, partnering for that to singer-songwriter/ guitarist/ keyboardist/ producer Diederik Nomden (whom he knew from Redivider: it was his leaving in 2001 which prompted the others to change the bandname. Following that split, Nomden went on to form the critically acclaimed Johan, and in 2002 he also joins Darryll-Ann as keyboardist/ backing singer…with whom he would perform outsidee his home country quite frequently. In 2004 he joins the band of Ellen ten Damme). Together they record a couple of demoes in their homs studio, and sent ‘em out to record labels and showcase festivals just for the fun of finding out what interest they could generate. Well, on the force of those simple demo recordings the duo saw themselves invited to play at Holland’s most important talent search festival EuroSonic in January 2009, at Texas based SxSW showcase festival (in March) and its Canadian counterpart NxNW (June), and at New York’s CMJ (in October). In June they also played at Oerol, a Dutch festival, in between the boys also played a couple of gigs in Holland. What’s the buzz about? Well, it’s a new wave of romanticism in Pop music, apparently…with a return to the Folk music antics of the early to mid ‘70s, to the likes of Simon And Garfunkel! With a minimalistic instrumentation consisting of acoustic guitar (main instrument, which is exchanged for a barely distorted electric one only in the songs “I Really Should Whisper”, and “Potentially Sorry”) with backings varying from soft electric (slide) guitar (evidently a bit more energetic in the aforementioned tracks), drums (in two songs, with some percussion/ handclappings in another), horns (only in “I Really Should Whisper”), xylophone (“Cytheria Squirts”) violins, cello, and some soft keyboards as well (check “”Potentially Sorry)! Sounds impressive as a whole, but keep in mind that the extras are really spread out over the songs. Heck, that ain’t even quite true, because there àre a couple of songs where the only instruments being “played” are one acoustic guitar and the two voices (check “Ultimate Excuses”)! Oh, before I forget, in a couple occasions the acoustic guitar is exchanged for a mandolin. The whole (the vocals, the serene calmness of the songs…which might just induce a melancholy feeling…the restricted instrumentation) makes for a comparison to S & G in sóme ways, because vocally Nomden and de Haan ain’t quite the same…which is just as well, for it makes for a face of their own! Check it out at myspace.com/awkwardi, where the band posted no less than 6 out of the 11 songs on the album. In case you’re from Holland, you might catch one of the band’s performances this Fall (they’re currently touring throughout the country with dates goin’ til the end of November). The fact that the duo will have several guests on stage (including Ghost trucker’s Jelte van Andel, Hospital Bombers’ Susanne Linssen, Alamo Race Track’s Len Lucieer, ex-Johan & ex-Alamo Race Track’s David Corel, Kopna Kopna’s Bo Koek) promices to make each of those performances a unique event! 84/100 Tony. |