- Mon, 2010-08-02 16:40
It seems that every musical era is destined to drift in and out of vogue as fashion plunders the past for inspiration. The last couple of years have seen the synth-saturated eighties revisited, and now it’s the turn of another trademark late eighties, early nineties sound; big guitars and big melodies. Bands like Dinosaur Jr, Pavement and Teenage Fanclub themselves updated the rock n roll n rhythm and blues of the sixties and seventies, by concentrating first and foremost on writing good pop tunes, which they then swathed in walls of thick, post-punk guitar noise.
Among the emerging collection of bands and artists currently looking to the fuzz-pop movement of two decades ago for their muse is Herzog. The project of one Nick Tolar, Herzog have a debut album coming out as a digital download or 12” vinyl this week, and from it is taken Livin Alone, available for free download from Herzog's bandcamp. Starting out with chirpy vocal harmonies, it quickly morphs into big guitars and a catchy verse reminiscent of early Weezer but with a more restless edge. A nod to the modern era comes by way of some cleverly produced lead guitar parts scuttling to and fro around the vocals. It’s all topped off with an unexpectedly gentle outro, fading away in a flutter of dreamy melodies.
If this is what the next big trend sounds like, we can’t wait!
