Three great new releases – Three short reviews.
If available on Spotify, one song each will also be added to the MangoRotation playlist for 14 days.
Further featured playlists of this post will be listed on the bottom.
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A Mess – Binging
02:25 | Single | 01/06/2022
Digital | Puffin Artlab
Garage Rock / Alternative Rock
Copenhagen, Denmark
A year ago, Danish one-woman-army of Alternative Rock and Roll and Garage Rock Dorte Hartmann released her debut EP „Woman“ under the alias A Mess. The five-track release is a sheer powerhouse of heavy music driven by innovative riffs and completed by an unambiguous feminist message. A Mess‚ debut raised the roof of European rock music and the press was delighted. While a second sonic earthquake by the Danish artist is not yet in sight, a heavy aftershock is here to shake the Earth again – A Mess present a video for the EP’s third track ‚Binging‘.
While the English verb ‚to binge‘ is denotated by consuming huge amounts of food or beverages in short time, connotations such as binge watching have even become loan words in several other languages. In her song, A Mess draws a comparison between watching a whole season of a series or gobbling a family-size pizza with modern dating behaviour. By doing field research in New York, the artist from Copenhagen found out that there are plenty of parallels between the way we consume media and the way we jump from one dating partner to the next.
‚Binging‘ is introduced by an easy-going 1990s-style Indie Rock theme that gains extra velocity as the heavy surf guitar jumps in. From the energetic verses to the anthemic chorus and up to the climactic bridge, A Mess presents a body-moving feel-good Garage Rock hymn full of dynamics and motivation. No matter if you swipe left or right, this great track is a match!
8/10 Mangoes
Griffen Handshake – All My Friends Wanna Be Doctors
03:16 | Single | 02/09/2022
Digital | Independent
Punk Rock / Pop Punk
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
In the 1980, The Clash’s amazing triple-vinyl album „Sandinista!“ featured the track ‚Career Opportunities‘ – a cynical take on governmental plans how to employ marginalized groups and the precariat. Almost half a century later, some things have changed, and partially we can even speak of improvement. Yet, equal opportunities still need to be eked out, and capitalism and kyriarchy still need to be overthrown. Nevertheless, Pittsburgh’s Pop Punk duo Griffen Handshake has recently released a great party song about chances and about elitism. While all the alumni of the great universities and colleges plan to become doctors, Griffen Handshake present a much cooler profession: Punk Rocker!
In their new single, the brothers Arjun and Millen (guitars) sing of the refusal of becoming yet another wheel in the big capitalist machinery. While their education does of course give them the privilege of becoming a bigger wheel and even get some handles, Griffen Handshake feel bound to Punk Rock instead. This great anthem begins with a heavy riff and a somewhat fuzzy sound which is very uncommon for the Skate Rock and Pop Punk theme of the song. With great velocity and severe traces of pre-Millenium Alternative Rock, Griffen Handshake plow forward until they reach the chorus. And then, the bottles pop, the cups reach the ceiling, and the heavy song turn into a jumping party. Griffen Handshake are on fire, and no matter what you have planned for your future (even becoming a doctor!), this song should be on your party playlist!
7/10 Mangoes
the Baker’s Basement – Wild Wild Sheep
03:47 | Single | 16/09/2022
Digital | Rubadub Productions
Indie Folk / Folk Rock
Cleveland, OH, USA
In times immemorial – it was May 27, 2022 – on the old MangoWave page, the phrase was uttered that chicken were the coolest creatures on Earth. It is unnecessary to argue that chicken are indeed badass. Nevertheless, as the author of this review has witnessed himself, sheep are awesome. In this case, the admiration for sheep goes far beyond their fluffy fur, their friendly faces, or the pure they express when hopping across the meadows. This single – which is also the title track of the Baker’s Basement’s new album – is about the journeys that sheep undertake when we do not observe them.
As sheep are often underrated concerning their adventurous nature, people only see the calm fluffy animal eating grass and going „Baaa!“. And thus, we count them so we can fall asleep. But what the sheep do while we are exploring dreamland has been unknown until present day. the Baker’s Basement reveal the truth that the sheep did not want us to know. Once the human body is uncoscious, the sheep adventure commences, and the gorgeous beasts travel to places far beyond our perception. If have never seen sheep hop over the moon, surf across the oceans or solve problems in the fifth dimension, that is only because the sheep do not want us to know.
This fantastic and highly entertaining tale is wrapped in a unique way of Folk Rock. Cleveland’s duo the Baker’s Basement artistically merges Folk with Blues and adds mesmerizing elements of strong psychedelia to it before completing this thrilling soundscape by catchy story-telling. Entertaining antiphonies and boppy changes in tempo emphasize the colourfulness of this amazing song.
9/10 Mangoes
Featured Playlist
MangoRotation
The Mango 100: Cooking and Housework
The Mango 100: Folk
The Mango 100: Garage / Surf
The Mango 100: Indie / Alternative
The Mango 100: Party
The Mango 100: Punk / Hardcore
The Mango 100: Rockabilly / Psychobilly / Rock’n’Roll
The Mango 100: Tunes for the Road
The Mango 100: Workout
Sound of Denmark: The Mango 100
Sound of the USA: The Mango 100
