Now, this might seem a little odd for most of our readers since even at first sight, the name of the band is undecipherable. So, this post will be about a Hungarian band, Népi Papa és a Haverok. Hungarian scenesters can spot a couple of figures in the band who might be familiar from other acts. The point is, NPH is Hungary’s only band that is actually funny and not trying to be in an embarassing way. They combine the fun with a huge background of pop music’s history. The music is full of elements of punk, post-punk, ska and other stuff I’m not acquainted with. This makes live shows quite powerful. And fun. Their lyrics are immensely creative with the themes of sexuality, identity and of course, they are the only ones in Hungary I know who can be vulgar but it doesn’t feel forced. If you understand Hungarian, in their songs you can hear about sultan cocks, flying cunthair, attraction to the neighbour guy, a Californian ‘queen’ and stuff that’ll make you laugh your ass off. The singer is actually so weird on stage that for one, he could do stand-up comedy better than most stand-up comedians and he can totally sell anything. I mean if the music sucked (the situation is quite the opposite), he would still be worth watching on stage. Nevertheless, listen to the song below, you can read my very sophisticated title-translation in the post title. Awesome song, the chorus is unforgettable. If you happen to be in Hungary and they happen to have a gig, don’t miss out on it.

Népi Papa és a Haverok – Baszni, Baszni [mediafire] // [ysi]

ps. thanks to bede in the comments for mentioning the strange resemblance (I’m hesitant to call it a cover) bw this song and the Modest Mouse’s Tiny Cities Made of Ashes. Super irony.

I was pretty excited to hear about The Dead Weather at first. I adore the voice of The Kills girl and I’m a fan of The White Stripes and The Racounteurs. Jack White has a huge space inside him for music. As you can expect, their debut Horehound (buy it here) is a dirty, alternative blues rock record with some hellheavy guitars and the dark sexyness of Alison Mosshart. The pace of the album changes a lot, there are very slow songs and there are faster ones. Throughout, you can feel the desert, cowboys shooting each other, wild west brothels and strange trains running at night. The album takes you back to some weird semi-imaginary roots of rocknroll. It must’ve been a time when the devil still came to the Earth and abducted women who were wandering alone in the desert. You could get them back if you head a gun because the devil was also vulnerable. As much as the sound goes back to some musical roots, it tries to catch some roots of darkness in the soul too. Sexuality, seduction, vengence, blood… Every song has the ghosts of wild west dancing in the background. Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits would be proud as well as Janis Joplin and maybe Nico. On the downside, the album is a bit too much. It’s biggest strengt is the tracks hanging together very well but it’s really hard to listen to the whole at once. Here you go, my favourite track is Bone House, this guitar is sick… (If it’s a guitar at all.) This is like a sandstorm! Or a tornado. Actually, remember the song My Tornado by The Raveonettes? The first album? They have something in common.

The Dead Weahter – Bone House [mediafire] // [ysi]