Well, it is great to see that bongo boy waste no time getting back into the swing of things. The last of the Christmas carols are still fading in the cold night air, the remains of the turkey are still to be used up as sandwiches and soup, and the New Year’s celebrations are still to come, yet they already have the first of 2024’s TV shows good to go. And what a way to kick off the new season of music video shows.
You will be able to find this premiered on Ch. 29 in Portland, Oregon, on January 2nd, with heavy support from more than 72 terrestrial channels and soon to be found streaming on Bongo Boy TV’s own ROKU Channel. So, things might still be in the grip of winter when you look outside your window, but when you turn on the TV, things are hotting up.
Kicking off with Artic Baba’s Delivery Guy, we are presented with a fantastic slice of indie rock, the perfect balance of groove and grit, pop infectiousness and indie cool. A reminder perhaps that at the point where indie, pop and rock, where style, accessibility and sonic weight all blend, music is made that should, in an ideal world, be the sound of the mainstream rather than the insubstantial dance-routine-driven dross that is the norm these days.
It’s nice to see ReLove getting in on the Bongo Boy action, a band I have written about many times. Their’s is a more soulful, more seductive sound than most and Join As One sees them doing what they do best. A calm and considered narrative, a fantasy metaphor and hushed, harmonious tones. Gorgeous.
In contrast, Blow_Flyy are a new name for me and Blood N Honey is a nice change of pace. Fast flung, deft and dexterous rap salvos over glitchy, trap house grooves and a song that flies in the face of much of the music coming out of the urban sector today, a song filled with aspiration and optimism, with ambition and hope for the future, rather than the usual cliches of victimhood and self-aggrandisement. What a refreshing change.
The Tiki Cowboy are everything the name suggests: lilting Polynesian grooves, meet country moves, a blend of lilting Hawaiian licks and Dixie kicks – fun, upbeat, accessible and fun. It is a song about waiting for that all-important telephone call whilst all you can hear is the sound of silence, not quite silence, but just the sound of crickets where the conversation should be.
ReLove return with Stand on Love, once again a gentle and beautiful array of music, something the Bee Gees in their heyday would have wrestled you to the ground to get their hands on. And that speaks volumes about the calibre of their creations. They also are given the honour of rounding the show-off, this time with the suitably upbeat and joyous Fly Away, reminding us that although they are great at the sensual and slower numbers, they also know how to pop and party.
And between those two songs we find old friends Studeo and When It’s Over, a song that sees them building their epic soundscapes, blending classical grace and grandeur, folk delicacy, pop smarts, world traditions and shot through with shards of rock and roll guitar. It is a song that seems to have something for everyone. And then some.
And there it is, the first show of the year and already one helluva benchmark laid down for the coming months—the great and good of the current crop of rising bands and the newest and coolest music all in one place. As sonic portents go, it sounds like it’s going to be a great year.
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