Now thats a fun coincidence: I finished the mu-sick-al year with Tanju and his Racoonery and a wee bit late in February i got a kick-start into shows yet again with them.
From set to set they seem to become more glued together, more defined and – in my head – more energetic.
Down in the cellar of the Komet and for the support slot of The Sleeveens they choose a crisp, uptempo and to-the-point set.
Tan LeRacoon & Racoonery (Komet, Hamburg, 21.01.2025 (c) gehkacken.de 2025)What they do might not be 100% down my mu-sick-all alley but their songs are full of little references, nuggets and just neat chords and harmonies. On top of a solid back line of drums, bass and guitar Tanju is giventhe ability to front, wander around with guitar and vocals.
I got to admit though that this condensed form somewhat works best for me, for the surprisingly rather low number of folks on this friday around me it seemed to work too:
Plenty of applause!
Next The Sleeveens from Nashville, Tennessee. They got a critically acclaimed debut out on Dirtnap Records in 2024 and sport “77 dublin nashville punk rock & roll garage pop pub rock punk rock n roll milwaukee” in their references resp. stickers on their cupboard.
Check it out here:
Fun fact: The Sleeveens had dancing girls at the front (but did not give them regards).
And this is how they kicked off:
First impression:
Very Unamerican (in terms of musical style). This is mainly fueled by the accent of Stef Murphy and i guess his own upbringing as a musician in Dublin (eg. with his Power Pop outfit The Subsoncis around 2000).
Seeing an interview with Stef on the Internet (damn Internet, never forgets) it looks like he is also very self-aware and has a solid reflection on being a touring musician:
It all sounds very glamorous, but the reality of
being a touring musician – and Murphy and his band
tour a considerable amount to stay financially afloat – is what
he called “15 per cent glamorous and 85 per cent extremely hard work.”
“It puts a terrible strain on your family,” he says, nodding somberly.
“My family are terribly supportive, but it’s very tough on
your own mental health, and I find that particularly hard.”
Irish Post 2015
The Sleeveens (Komet, Hamburg, 21.01.2025 (c) gehkacken.de 2025)Their sound indeed varies between Power Pop, Pub Rock and early Punk and next to Stef’s voice (and vocals) it was the Bass (DeeDee Ramone style through and through, including downstroke galore) and the Drums (very precise and hard hitting behind a wall of hair) that made an impression.
They rounded their set, about an hour long, off with two covers, one not very surprisingly from the mighty Undertones:
Get Over You is sure thing a safe bet. Much better and surprisingly was the 2nd cover as an extra – a long forgotten 1980 gem by the Jim Carroll Band:
Into that one specifically Stef put a lot of energy in – that was indeed a good selection and great cover version.
Did i buy a record? No, i did not. But it was nevertheless an entertaining set and The Sleeveens are worth a listen.
Is solid the word i am looking for?
Besides that i was surrounded by friends, had chats and a beer or two and was a wee bit surprised that the smokehouse below the Komet was not full.
It was Friday, what else do the kids need to come out?
nb: Following the short stroll home the love of me live indeed complained that i smelled full of smoke – it is probably a Rock’n’Roll coolness thingy that the cellar under the Komet is a heavily used … smokehouse.
