Now here's a surprise. Between all the extremities we've encountered lately, suddenly a blues rock album appears, and to my surprise I quite like it. Before I fully realise what's going on, I'm thrown back into to highly energetic days of pure rock 'n' roll, when music was about about making fun and not about overcomplicating things. I had no idea this was going to happen but to be honest, I'm quite happy it did. Matthau Mikojan has made an interesting and very enjoyable rock album.
Now before we go into some details, I want to ask the readers unders 25 to send this review to their parents. They just might like the inelaborate sound of Matthau Mikojan and band. This music is quite simple-hearted but that doesn't affect the quality. Every song is different, borrowing influences from acts like Guns 'n' Roses, Rolling Stones and Billy Idol. But the sound on Her Foreign Language rarely goes in overdrive. Instead, Matthau Mikojan incorporates the best elements from classic rock to make some excellent rock ballads with a solid attitude, along with some steady blues rock songs.
It's no surprise that Matthau Mikojan comes from a musical familiy. His father was a member of Popeda, also known as The Finnish Rolling Stones. Matthau himself had been a member of Bloodpit and several other bands (some with his brother) before finally deciding to concentrate on this solo project. After summoning some band members, he was finally ready to working on this album and going on tour. All theses elements and influences have made him a man who lives for music.
Of the thirteen tracks, 'Lobotomy Blues' is my least favourite, but that's because I really don't like blues ballads. I do like 'No Preference' and 'Hours Overdue'. These two are blues songs reminding me of the classics from the sixties and seventies. 'Life Can surprise' is a nice acoustic rock song that somehow reminds me of the Lemonsheads or Blind Melon but with a more vintage rock 'n' roll sound. 'Things You Can Handle' and 'You' are probably my favourites on the album, mainly because of the songwriting capacity.
As a whole, Her Foreign Language is a very enjoyable album with some very nice songs. Matthau Mikojan brings the golden era of rock 'n' roll and blues back in a very convincing and surprising way. This album is not about sounding as progressive and modern as possible, nor does it showcase an enormous amount of technical craftsmanship. Instead, Matthau Mikojan gets the party started and gets everybody dancing with a big smile on their faces.
Serge
Now before we go into some details, I want to ask the readers unders 25 to send this review to their parents. They just might like the inelaborate sound of Matthau Mikojan and band. This music is quite simple-hearted but that doesn't affect the quality. Every song is different, borrowing influences from acts like Guns 'n' Roses, Rolling Stones and Billy Idol. But the sound on Her Foreign Language rarely goes in overdrive. Instead, Matthau Mikojan incorporates the best elements from classic rock to make some excellent rock ballads with a solid attitude, along with some steady blues rock songs.
It's no surprise that Matthau Mikojan comes from a musical familiy. His father was a member of Popeda, also known as The Finnish Rolling Stones. Matthau himself had been a member of Bloodpit and several other bands (some with his brother) before finally deciding to concentrate on this solo project. After summoning some band members, he was finally ready to working on this album and going on tour. All theses elements and influences have made him a man who lives for music.
Of the thirteen tracks, 'Lobotomy Blues' is my least favourite, but that's because I really don't like blues ballads. I do like 'No Preference' and 'Hours Overdue'. These two are blues songs reminding me of the classics from the sixties and seventies. 'Life Can surprise' is a nice acoustic rock song that somehow reminds me of the Lemonsheads or Blind Melon but with a more vintage rock 'n' roll sound. 'Things You Can Handle' and 'You' are probably my favourites on the album, mainly because of the songwriting capacity.
As a whole, Her Foreign Language is a very enjoyable album with some very nice songs. Matthau Mikojan brings the golden era of rock 'n' roll and blues back in a very convincing and surprising way. This album is not about sounding as progressive and modern as possible, nor does it showcase an enormous amount of technical craftsmanship. Instead, Matthau Mikojan gets the party started and gets everybody dancing with a big smile on their faces.
Serge