Birth of Joy
Prisoner (Long Branch/SPV) Prisoner, the third LP from Dutch trio Birth of Joy, rips Sixties psych and Seventies arena rock a new fissure. Like a sugared-up Wolfmother if they’d written more than two good songs, singer/guitarist Kevin Stunneberg, drummer Bob Hogenelst, and organist Gertjan Gutman fire up post-pop blues with a foot in the gutter and an eye on the stars. Charged with melody, youth, and chutzpah, the power threesome visits the garage (“Rock & Roll Show,” “Keep Your Eyes Shut”), rock quarry (“Grow”), jazz lounge (“Holding On”), and acid cafe (“Three Day Road”). Crossing British whimsy and Detroit power, Birth of Joy merrily dips lysergic chocolate in caffeinated peanut butter. Once again, Europeans take classic rock forms so hackneyed they belong in a nursing home and reanimate them. (7pm, BD Riley’s)
This article appears in March 14 • 2014.
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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.
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