Wallace Stroby – Zum Greifen Nah (Pendragon, 2020)
Gelesen: 03. – 10.11.2024 (netto 350 Seiten)
Aus dem Amerikanischen Übersetzt von Bernd Gockel.
Beim 4ten und letzten Teil der Crissa Stone Serie von Wallace Stroby hatte ich micht gefragt “Kommt da mehr” und die Antwort bleibt … nein.
Aber ein frühes Einzelwerk von Wallace Stroby gibt es auch noch, im Original 2010 herausgekommen und damit vor den Crissa Stone Büchern.
Fast ein klassischer 70er Jahre Crime Plot: Ein Kleinstadt Cop in Florida beklaut eine Drogengang und killt ihre Kurier – und lockt damit den Auftragskiller der Gang aus New Jersey in das Reich des lokalen Sheriffs und damit auch in den Alltag von Deputy Sara Cross.
Und natürlich geht dann so einiges den Bach runter, es gibt ordentlich Leichen und viele lose Enden. Um die meisten kümmert sich der Killer aus New Jersey, der zwar Alt und Krebskrank ist aber … ein Fachmann bleibt.
Coole und wunderbar lakonische Story über Korruption, Ehrgeiz und Entscheidungen, die Frauen treffen …
Die absolut stringente und (für mich) logische Handlung wird durch einen faszinierenden Blick darauf ergänzt, wie Geld und Ehrgeiz oft den moralischen Kompass außer Kraft setzen können.
Wallace Stroby vermeidet es dabei, Sara zu einer starken Frau mit guten Instinkten zu machen, achtet darauf, ihre Fehler zu zeigen, was sie am Ende noch realistischer und sympathischer macht.
Ach ja, das Ende ist auch ganz wunderbar und passt perfekt zum Englischen Titel: “Gone ‘Til November” klingt so viel … romantischer.
Also von Wallace Stroby nehm’ ich gerne mehr, der hat Stil!
When it comes to books, then i tend to trust authors but also publishing houses, editors and translators. When it comes to music it is the same: There are bands i trust but also venues, bookers and tour organizers get a similar credit from me.
And because of that trust, i get to see pairings like on this cold Friday evening.
Who else than Fab, booker at the Hafenklang, would entertain the idea of pairing a a young French cold-wave, electro and/or synth-punk band with an old (all the way from 1978) and in some circles legendary punk and/or power pop band from Canada`?
As wide as that mixture was also the audience, clearly split in half (and a mere 50 odd people upstairs at the Hafenklang).
First Blind Delon from Toulouse, France. A home & solo project that turned into something bigger and live shows.
They set the scene like this:
In their black granite spaceship, the cabin crew moves in slow motion, freed from weightlessness. Sinking into the dark depths of the universe, the members of the Techno Finale 666 mission are watching with fear and resignation our galaxy moving away until it becomes a tiny point of light.
In the large empty halls of the machine, the synthetic and freezing hymns of Blind Delon resonate.
And then they surprised me big once they entered the stage: What initially felt like them tuning the effect boards and instruments turned actually into the first song, much like an intro, that in the end sounded like a soundtrack to said space movie.
Wow, two guys with a Mac, massive effect boards and plexiglass guitar & bass throwing out soundscapes that with closed eyes almost felt like coming from an orchestra.
From there they took it into a territory that i normally do not savvy too much, someone more in the know mentioned Cassandra Complex as a reference but only the love of my life knows that kind of mu-sick.
Within that, they also had short and fast bangers like this:
Checking them out in the internet (damn internet, never forgets) this seems to be typical for the more recent output that is seeing the band moving in a new direction, approaching post-metal from their post punk roots.
On the other hand they also have these lengthy and dark soundscapes too:
All of that with “only” two guys manipulating strings? No, far from – though i am not a musician i sense that the two massive effect boards they sported help with that. The sheer look of those again is very … SciFi!
Now try their stuff over at Bandcamp to find out if it fits you:
As said, half of the audience liked it, moving silently and slowly to the sound, some actually admitted they hated it. I did dig it, despite that it ain’t my style but i had to recognize that they did their stuff very well.
And thus they surprised me, big time.
Pointed Sticks, haling from Vancouver, BC, outta Canaduh (and a mere 7.706 KM away from Hamburg) took the stage next and kicked off like this:
For those grown up on 1999s Pop Punk covers of “Out Of Luck” that must have been way too Pop, way too much harmony. But that is what they always have been, a real cool power pop band originating from the Punk and New Wave scene in Vancouver.
And they still feature every one of it’s original members, well aged and still in-tune to provide a more than decent entertainment: Multi-vocal harmonies, nice guitar overcast, keyboard to provide some extra width in sound and a solid back line of drum and bass to keep it going forward.
This time round the other half of the audience got to move, a wee bit more extrovert. And for a finishing touch they closed their set with … Out Of Luck, as wanted by the lot:
As much as in 2019 at the Molotow the Pointed Sticks delivered a completely unpretentious power pop set, for some maybe too much grounded in simple rock – but that is what they have been doing all of their life.
As i had great companionship with Luke of Spitfire Stevens fame i stayed on for another sip, some free floating associative thinking and discussion about corpses in flight cases and consequential cold cases.
And, whilst strolling uphill & home, i was thinking about how successful Fab paired two bands with a style wide apart – without that, i would not have experienced something completely new.
And that is why i trust his choices!
Much appreciated, sure as much as both bands appearing on our shores in the first place. Without touring, there would not be fun.
That was a wee bit of a surprise: The Marked Men would grace Hamburg again, 10 years after their triumphant Get!Lost!Fest! #2 set. And they got paired with a perfect counterpart:
Where the Marked Men give the lot catchy power pop, fast and simple rhythm, driving drumbeats and chorus driven song structures Hamburg’s very own Küken are a guarantee for …
… fast, forceful and simple wall of sound proto punk with perfect twin vocals.
I was hoping for a packed show, in reality the turnout for this early Sunday show (doors at 19:00, start short after 20:00) was slow to arrive and best “well filled“. Which, under the current struggles of Clubs to fill shows, was ok i guess.
Küken took some extra time to get on stage and kicked into the set with one of my favorites, that is “RnR Band” for a start:
Bang, there almost ain’t no better start into a tight and fast set.
And that is their custom anyway, not a lot of chitchat but pushing out songs one after the other. Given that all songs are well below the 02:00 mark the focus anyway is on the continuous barrage of chords and the driving drums.
That paired with the same voice twice dual singing is simply a perfect niche in this vast genre. Call it Punk, call it Garage, call it Proto Punk … or simply stick Rock’n’Roll to it.
Here is the finishing touch, more on that RnR side of things:
It was not a surprise that Küken came across absolutely tight and near perfect, as this show was the topping of a short run from Leipzig via Berlin back to Hamburg.
Oh my, for my ears this was a perfect set!
Get your dose of Küken below and make sure you order all of their records. Even Jeff Burke scored Kücken III after the show at the merch table!
Next The Marked Men and in classic unpretentious style they took next to nothing to set themselves up and kicked off with one of their classic hymns:
Thanks indeed for giving us again the chance to spend “A little time” with you guys and sing-a-long to this beauty of a pop (like in popular) song:
Just give a little bit of time 'Cause you know that you can never live before you die Get out of the way You know a little spilled blood will make a nice distraction
Can’t cap your lid, but booze that mind I don’t care you know it’s not a loss if it’s not our dime It’s just a little hit You gotta grow up with the X on
[Bridge]
It’s just a little bit of time outside With the ones who care on our side Just a little bit of time outside Just a world of You’ll get your life to say Just a little bit Just a little of it
(c) 2006 The Marked Men / SESAC
The Internet (damn Internet, never forgets) has the simple truth on this one:
It’s a perfect song: the way everyone comes in a split second before the vocals hit, the way everything drops away for the guitar lead and the bass drum, the way it breaks after the chorus where the guitars start dueling each other with clean chords being picked at note by note.
The only item that felt a bit off was somewhat the sound: In front of the stage it sounded less powerful than i would have expected, though overall at the end it felt ok.
My wild guess: The perfect and loud wall of sound by Küken set a precedence that anyway The Marked Men with their style would never reach.
The Marked Men (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 03.11.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
What the lot got was skillful guitar work, melodies and multi-vocal singing, slower songs and faster ones – a happy mix from the overall Marked Men Œuvre.
Listening to all 4 long players prior to the show for something like a warm-up i was stunned (though i should have known better) how consistent they sound. Some may say “everything sounds the same” but i rather call it a consistent sound across a rather short period (2003 to 2008).
Here is another one, showcasing the solid rhythm section, the twin guitar work and vocal harmonies – a perfect chemistry:
On top i was also happy to see that in front of the stage yet again a large (and largely younger) female contingent was both enjoying it and happily dancing along. It was a great reminder on what type of mu-sick is being played: (Power) Pop Music like in Popular Music.
Somewhat many folks where happy that the early show ended – unsurprisingly – early on a dark November Sunday evening, i continued to hang around, chatting with friends and having a post show beer (or two).
And ended up saying two times “good bye” to my favorite (and overworked) booker – thanks yet again Fab for running this shit against all odds.
And as unpretentious as both bands delivered and enabled a great evening i realized that this show actually qualified for my shortlist of Show Of The Year.
Rightfully!
Fun thing: Franz from Otis Tours bumped into plenty Punk Rock Raduno regulars from Hamburg with a broad smile…
