Thou
Put us in Tune
Pias Recordings

Thou is some rather unknown band from Ghent, Belgium. They started out two or three years ago with their album Hello in this Sun and had quite some 'hit' with the single Swing [which really swung]. But somehow their second album wasn't a real break through [not in Belgium nor elsewhere].

Put us in Tune is their second album. It was presented last year at 'de Nachten' in Antwerp, together with their producer John Parish, and I must say: the CD sounds better than I had expected. Funny samples, nice guitar riffs, the beautiful voice of Does de Wolf [she sounds kinda like Kim Deal - or was it Kelly - the Pixies] (That was Kim, Kelly was a Breeder - editor's note)...

The CD starts out with Kids do Run [witch can be listened to on their website]. This song somehow reminds me of Beck, but in a slower version. The second song introduces Does de Wolf with Weak Lady. The lyrics aren't in the booklet and the only sentence I remember is "hit me hurry, hurry hit me, hit me, hit me...", so in some way Marilyn Manson might have been involved as well. Perverts is somewhat heavier than the previous songs; somehow they finally managed to plug in their guitars. And the next 12 songs are reaeaeally cool. I wonder where they get their samples and loops... My favourites are Plasticine and Calling, but that's no reference I suppose...

Last week I read that Daan Stuyven [Dead Man Ray, Volt, Running Cow, Daan] thinks Belgian pop and alternate music is nothing but a stereotype, with no identity, like most of the American popular music. Well, he surely hasn't listened to this one yet. Don't ask me what it exactly sounds like. I don't like to compare bands to each other, so I'm glad to say that "it is impossible to compare them to any band". However, I have given it a try: it's some kind of a mixture between Blur's 13, Sonic Youth and some soft-electronica pinkpop band. If anyone can confirm this, please let me know. I read somewhere "Thou; Portishead meets Sonic Youth?", I think it makes more sense than my comparison.

Thou got help from John Parish, who used to hang with PJ Harvey [maybe still does] and apart from that, he can play the guitar, rhodes, tambourine, shaker and the little accordion. And he seemed to have a lot of time because he even produced this album. Nice to know: Mauro Pawlowski [Evil Superstars, Mauro] does some vocals and Bart Maris [Jaune Toujours, X-legged Sally, Dead Man Ray] was invited to play some trumpet [he is a pro after all].

I was watching a cooking programme on tv while writing this and listening to the record, and it's surprising how well it works with this cooking programme... The record works well in other situations as well! Last week I told my girlfriend to listen to the song Okeh. The chorus goes like "won't you split, won't you split, won't you split..." and yes, she did.

Oh, and don't try to copy the CD, the songs float...

Copyright © 2001 Jan Ackenhausen