Each Friday I pick a song–new, old, borrowed, blue–that’s been on my mind and in my ears, and write a short post about it.
This is “Flexxin” by Dutch Uncles:
Dutch Uncles performed at the End of the Road Festival last weekend, and their set was something to behold. It’s not often my experience of a live show is to move from bored to faintly appalled to utterly entranced over the course of about three songs, but that’s pretty much what happened on Saturday night. Dutch Uncles (so named because they sound foreign and a little bit embarrassing?) play music that sounds as though they’ve only ever listened to yacht rock, and the frontman dances like Napoleon Dynamite. They also very clearly know what they’re doing: the band is a group of excellent musicians. Put all these things together and, as long as you move through the first two stages of reaction, you find yourself totally engaged by a band as fun as it is talented. They put on a 45-minute party that was serious without being po-faced and silly without being arch and ironic.
My uncle Joop recognised this band’s genius before they’d finished their first song. It took you three songs to dig it.
Who’s a little bit embarrassing now, huh?
I’d like to see something from this movie, but I want the unveil to be slow.