The return of Most Unpleasant Men

On a cold friday evening I find myself suddenly on a train to Gouda. My destination is a return to the stage by one of my Dutch indie favorites: Most Unpleasant Men. Without a doubt one of the talented, most accomplished groups in the Netherlands. Their first studio effort Nothing Moves Slower was a play on both British and Scandinavian traditions, both dreamy and feisty, yet with a significant influence from Dutch literature and performance art ("kleinkunst") traditions. It was an ambitious collection of music by an obviously very accomplished bunch of musicians, that hadn't come to full fruition yet, and lacked production value. Most Unpleasant Men remained the domain of the underground, despite the amazing liveshow these true professionals brought to the stage.

I've enjoyed their record a lot in the past years and they were one of the key bands in the string of events I produced between 2008 and 2011. They instilled in me the passion for music that put the foundation under my activities in those years, and still motivates me to be part of (the) music (scene) in some way. You can imagine my excitement upon hearing they were releasing a second studio album proper, following the collection of scraps they've released in the past year or so. With a revised line-up and a new musical direction (more synths and beats and less Scandinavian indiefolksoul), I was more than keen to travel to Gouda to get an early peek at their new work-in-progress liveshow.

I was fortunate enough to receive a promotional copy of the album well in advance of the show, so had a good idea of what to expect. Most of my expectations were met (darker atmosphere, few songs from their back-catalogue, lots of added gear), but I was surprised by the vigour they presented on stage. This didn't look like a band that was mere minutes into its first try-out; they were well prepared for this show. The newbees in the band (drummer Nicky Hustinx, bassist Nana Effah-Bekoe and jack-of-all-trades Jacob van de Water) seem to fit in comfortably, while frontman Joram Tornij has certainly picked up some attitude from his artpunk side-projects. He seems more of a commanding presence than before, less the contempalting troubadour and more of a frontman befitting their brand new postpunk/synthpop vibes.

Unfortunately for Most Unpleasant Men, they missed out on Noorderslag somehow, but there is not a shred of doubt it would've been one of the standout performances last saturday.

Most Unpleasant Men are doing a small clubtour in support of their second eponymous album, and I invite you all to check them out. The album is still on the 3voor12 Luisterpaal Check them out after the jump and watch the teaser for their Tivoli performance this thursday (tix still available!) below:


17 januari Tivoli Utrecht (album release)
8 februari Rotown De Unie Rotterdam
26 februari Paradiso Amsterdam
27 februari Luxor Live Arnhem